Past Accomplishments

• Forthcoming: Australian Indigenous International Trade (a discussion with Darren Godwell, CEO, IGNITE and Sheena Graham, Assistant Director Indigenous Diplomacy, Department of Foreign Affairs, Government of Australia), date to be announced
• Want to Take Your Business Outside the Domestic Market and Make International Sales? Get Your Skills Ready for International Trade (Caroline Tompkins, CAE, CITP, President and CEO, Forum for International Trade Training), September 30, 2021 https://iitio.org/fitt-1/
• Canada’s Inclusive Trade Platform to the World (with Sara Wilshaw, Chief Trade Commissioner, Global Affairs Canada), March 22, 2021 https://iitio.org/can1/
• Māori Trade Talk (with Rino Tirikatene, Parliamentary Under-Secretary to the Minister for Trade and Export Growth [Māori Trade]), February 17, 2021 https://iitio.org/maori4/
• A Conversation with the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, October 27, 2020 https://iitio.org/un-3/
• US Supreme Court: The McGirt Decision (the most significant tribal rights decision in the last century), September 30, 2020 https://iitio.org/mcgirt/

The social and economic impact that IITIO has on Indigenous communities is that IITIO is developing the infrastructure for expanded economic development, job creation and the exercise of inherent economic sovereignty.

A lot of the infrastructure work consists initially in developing international Nation-State recognition of the inherent Indigenous economic right of Indigenous trade and commerce. This infrastructure work starts top-down at the macro level, with initial Nation-State acceptance of the right, and subsequent recognition and support of this right, through development of Indigenous trade provisions within Nation-State-to-Nation-State trade agreements.

IITIO Inc., through its active members of Michael Woods and Wayne Garnons-Williams are founding and permanent members of the Government of Canada Global Affairs Working Group on Indigenous International Trade.  This federal advisory body is responsible for the development of international Indigenous trade policy. It provides analyses to the Government of Canada for international trade negotiations where the topic of Indigenous trade is being raised, in anticipation of Indigenous trade being incorporated into a binding Nation-State-to-Nation-State trade agreement.

On behalf of IITIO, Wayne and Michael as well as Dr. Jim Collard made the following submissions on Indigenous International Trade:

• Development of the Indigenous People’s Trade Chapter for Canada as part of the Canada/US/Mexico Trade Negotiations  
• Development of Canada’s Indigenous trade policy as part of Canada’s Inclusive Trade Agenda 
• Explanation of the historical relationship between the British Crown and Indigenous people of Canada, and its relationship to the present-day Canada-UK Trade agreement
• Indigenous Trade and the historical relationship between the British Crown and Indigenous people of Canada – Canada-UK Trade agreement
• Inclusive Trade Action Group (ITAG) – Canada’s Inclusive Indigenous Trade Provisions  
• Mercosur and Canada’s opportunity with our Indigenous Trade Chapter
• 2021 Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (FIPA) Model Submissions
• Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Agreement (APEC) – Critique of New Zealand’s proposal for an Indigenous Peoples Economic Cooperation Agreement (IPECA)
• Virtual Presentation to the senior United States Trade Representative Ambassador Tai concerning Indigenous Trade Consultation and the Creation of a US International Indigenous Trade Policy

• Establishing Indigenous Economic Reconciliation Within Canada and Globally (a special lecture presented at the Ted Rogers School of Law and Business Ryerson University, Toronto, Ontario), March 3, 2020
• Indigenous Trade Agreement (keynote address) and “Border Issues and International Agreements” (panel participation, Chippewas of the Thames First Nation Conference on Elders Knowledge Exchange, an Economic Wisdom Path on Nation-to-Nation Trade held in London, Ontario), March 10-11, 2020
• United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 9 & 10 (co-chaired and presented on the Indigenous Trade, Investment and Financial Roundtable at the McGill University Faculty of Law Human Rights and Sustainable Development Law Symposium, a global on-line event based in Montreal), May 15, 2020
• Pandemic Recovery, Sustainable Development Goals and the Law (invited virtual intervenor at the Leverhulme Trust Lecture co-hosted by by Professor Marie-Claire Cordonier Segger for Cambridge University and CISDL), November 4, 2020
• Traditional Knowledge, Trade and Intellectual Property Regimes (presented at the BCAFN virtual conference on “Global Indigenous Economic Development and Indigenous Trade Post COVID 19”), November 25, 2020
• Sixties Scoop Healing Foundation (Wayne Garnons-Williams, IITIO Board Chair and Chair of the Foundation Board, interviewed on the “Moment of Truth” Radio Show hosted by David Moses of ELMNT FM Toronto 106.5 FM), December 10, 2020
• International Indigenous Trade Opportunities (presentation hosted by the virtual World Indigenous Business Forum), December 16, 2020

• Examining the cross-roads and potential of Indigenous Trade and the Indigenous Renewable Energy Sector (virtual presentation to Paul Moen, Chief of Staff for the Canadian Federal Minister for the Environment and Climate Change), January 22, 2021
• Intersection of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and the Indigenous Economy (virtual presentation hosted by International Economic Development Council’s 2021 Leadership Summit), March 16, 2021
• Distinguished Experts Dialogue: Advancing Sustainable Natural Resources Governance through International Law (invited virtual intervenor at the Leverhume Lecture hosted by Professor Marie-Claire Cordonier Segger, University of Cambridge), March 17, 2021
• Advancing Sustainable Trade and Investment through International Law and Governance (presented on a virtual panel hosted by Professor Mark Gehring and the Centre for International Sustainable Development Law), March 30, 2021
• Indigenous Traditional Knowledge in the Context of the World Intellectual Property Organization (presented on a virtual panel as part of the session on International Indigenous Issues hosted by Director Jessica Gordon, AADNC, Government of Canada), April 1, 2021
• Indigenous Trade Consultation and the Creation of US International Indigenous Trade Policy (virtual Presentation to senior United States Trade Representative Ambassador Tai), April 12, 2021
• “Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions: The Role of Indigenous Peoples in Implementing Sustainable Development Goal 16″ (United Nations theme presentation given as part of the official Canadian delegation for the 20th Session of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues), April 19, 2021
• “Indigenous Leaders on Climate Change and the Arctic” (moderated panel as part of the 45th Canada-US Law Institute Annual Conference hosted by Professor Stephen Petras and Case Western Law School and Western University Law), April 23, 2021
• Co-chaired the International Equity and Diversity Committee for the USMCA/CUSMA/TMEC Advisory Committee for Private Commercial Disputes (Article 3122), June 10, 2021
• “The Global Economy, the Sustainable Development Goals and the Law: Crafting Trade and Investment Rules for Sustainable Development, and Exploring how International Trade and Investment Rules Can Support Ambitious Climate Responses and the Achievement of the SDGs” (panel discussion hosted by Professor Marie-Claire Cordonier Segger, University of Cambridge, University of East Anglia and Leverhulme Trust) June 16, 2021
• “Comparison Between American and Canadian Indigenous Law and Policy” (virtual Lecture hosted by Stephen Petras and Case Western Law School) June 22, 2021

• Memoranda of Understanding were signed in 2019 with the Forum for International Trade Training (FITT) and the American Indian Chamber of Commerce Oklahoma (AICCO), to further develop International Indigenous Trade
• An Agreement was signed in 2020 with IGNITE (Indigenous Network for Investment Trade and Export), an Australian Indigenous organization dedicated to promoting Australian Indigenous economic development through international trade and investment
• An Agreement was signed in 2021 with Export Development Canada (EDC). The Agreement allows for a broader Canadian platform and focuses the alliance on reaching global Indigenous markets by developing community based trade opportunities
• These new IITIO/Stakeholder agreements will focus on developing practical administrative tools and guidelines to flesh out and allow the realization of procedural and practical means for international intertribal trade