B.C. health authority awards multi-million-dollar contract to Indigenous-led firm for medical gloves – Times Colonist
January 8, 2024
Indigenous glove project a ‘win win’ for the province and Indigenous Nations, leaders say.
A health services contract awarded to an Indigenous-led medical supply company puts local Nations at the economic table — and in the operating room.
The partnership, nearly two years in the making, is a deal between an Indigenous-owned business and the Provincial Health Services Authority to provide Indigenous-branded medical gloves to Northern and Interior health authorities in an agreement dubbed the “reconciliation glove project.”
“This is a little bit about business, but it’s more about reconciliation,” said James Hiebert, a member of the Mohawk Nation’s Turtle clan and president of Medical, Surgical and Safety Supplies (MSS) Ltd., an Indigenous-owned and operated Northwest Territories medical supply firm.
“Part of reconciliation is economic reconciliation, and that means getting Indigenous groups on the road to self-determination,” said Hiebert.
