{"id":101437,"date":"2026-01-22T13:35:06","date_gmt":"2026-01-22T18:35:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/?p=101437"},"modified":"2026-01-22T13:35:06","modified_gmt":"2026-01-22T18:35:06","slug":"anishnawbe-business-professional-association-act-has-southern-centric-bias","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/22\/anishnawbe-business-professional-association-act-has-southern-centric-bias\/","title":{"rendered":"Anishnawbe Business Professional Association: Act has ‘southern-centric bias’"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Sandi Krasowski, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Chronicle-Journal The Anishnawbe Business Professional Association (ABPA) is forewarning that the newly enacted Buy Ontario Act, 2025 (Bill 72), systematically excludes First Nations businesses and threatens to widen the economic gap in Northern Ontario. Jason Rasevych, ABPA president, said the association has submitted a strategic review in a letter to Stephen Crawford, Ontario minister of public and business service delivery and procurement. In the letter, ABPA argues that while the act aims to prioritize Ontario businesses, its definitions favour southern, urban, and non-Indigenous entities. Rasevych told The Chronicle-Journal that the legislation ignores the reality of the Northern economy and the constitutionally distinct status of First Nations by setting rigid thresholds for employee counts and permanent headquarters. He called the Buy Ontario Act,… <\/p>\n

\n
\n
This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription – Corporate, Print Subscription Only, and Canada Print and Online members only.
Register<\/a><\/div>\n
Already a member? Log in here<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Sandi Krasowski, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Chronicle-Journal The Anishnawbe Business Professional Association (ABPA) is forewarning that the newly enacted Buy Ontario Act, 2025 (Bill 72), systematically excludes First Nations businesses and threatens to widen the economic gap in Northern Ontario. Jason Rasevych, ABPA president, said the association has submitted a strategic review in a letter to Stephen Crawford, Ontario minister of public and business service delivery and procurement. In the letter, ABPA argues that while the act aims to prioritize Ontario businesses, its definitions favour southern, urban, and non-Indigenous entities. Rasevych told The Chronicle-Journal that the legislation ignores the reality of the Northern economy and the constitutionally distinct status of First Nations by setting rigid thresholds for employee counts and permanent headquarters. He called the Buy Ontario Act,... <\/p>\n

This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription - Corporate, Print Subscription Only, and Canada Print and Online members only.
Register<\/a><\/div>
Already a member? Log in here<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"author":101363,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-101437","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-national-news","category-ticker","pmpro-level-required","pmpro-level-3","pmpro-level-2","pmpro-level-5","pmpro-level-4","pmpro-level-6","pmpro-level-7","pmpro-no-access"],"yoast_head":"\nAnishnawbe Business Professional Association: Act has 'southern-centric bias' - The Turtle Island News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/22\/anishnawbe-business-professional-association-act-has-southern-centric-bias\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Anishnawbe Business Professional Association: Act has 'southern-centric bias' - The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Sandi Krasowski, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Chronicle-Journal The Anishnawbe Business Professional Association (ABPA) is forewarning that the newly enacted Buy Ontario Act, 2025 (Bill 72), systematically excludes First Nations businesses and threatens to widen the economic gap in Northern Ontario. Jason Rasevych, ABPA president, said the association has submitted a strategic review in a letter to Stephen Crawford, Ontario minister of public and business service delivery and procurement. In the letter, ABPA argues that while the act aims to prioritize Ontario businesses, its definitions favour southern, urban, and non-Indigenous entities. Rasevych told The Chronicle-Journal that the legislation ignores the reality of the Northern economy and the constitutionally distinct status of First Nations by setting rigid thresholds for employee counts and permanent headquarters. He called the Buy Ontario Act,\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/22\/anishnawbe-business-professional-association-act-has-southern-centric-bias\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TurtleIslandNews\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-01-22T18:35:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/facebooklogo.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"725\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"483\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/22\\\/anishnawbe-business-professional-association-act-has-southern-centric-bias\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/22\\\/anishnawbe-business-professional-association-act-has-southern-centric-bias\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lynda Powless\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458\"},\"headline\":\"Anishnawbe Business Professional Association: Act has ‘southern-centric bias’\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-01-22T18:35:06+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/22\\\/anishnawbe-business-professional-association-act-has-southern-centric-bias\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":492,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"National News\",\"ticker\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/22\\\/anishnawbe-business-professional-association-act-has-southern-centric-bias\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/22\\\/anishnawbe-business-professional-association-act-has-southern-centric-bias\\\/\",\"name\":\"Anishnawbe Business Professional Association: Act has 'southern-centric bias' - The Turtle Island News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2026-01-22T18:35:06+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/22\\\/anishnawbe-business-professional-association-act-has-southern-centric-bias\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/22\\\/anishnawbe-business-professional-association-act-has-southern-centric-bias\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/22\\\/anishnawbe-business-professional-association-act-has-southern-centric-bias\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Anishnawbe Business Professional Association: Act has ‘southern-centric bias’\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Turtle Island News\",\"description\":\"Your Source for Local News\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Turtle Island News\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/08\\\/turtle150.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/08\\\/turtle150.jpg\",\"width\":140,\"height\":150,\"caption\":\"Turtle Island News\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/TurtleIslandNews\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/newsattheturtle\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/channel\\\/UCOqB-hG3L6hRLsmqY0e5k0g\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458\",\"name\":\"Lynda Powless\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9dcf622653a010411b0a01d44ed2a1a41158cc5195ea70acd7914787f81e63a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9dcf622653a010411b0a01d44ed2a1a41158cc5195ea70acd7914787f81e63a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9dcf622653a010411b0a01d44ed2a1a41158cc5195ea70acd7914787f81e63a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Lynda Powless\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/author\\\/lynda\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Anishnawbe Business Professional Association: Act has 'southern-centric bias' - The Turtle Island News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/22\/anishnawbe-business-professional-association-act-has-southern-centric-bias\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Anishnawbe Business Professional Association: Act has 'southern-centric bias' - The Turtle Island News","og_description":"By Sandi Krasowski, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Chronicle-Journal The Anishnawbe Business Professional Association (ABPA) is forewarning that the newly enacted Buy Ontario Act, 2025 (Bill 72), systematically excludes First Nations businesses and threatens to widen the economic gap in Northern Ontario. Jason Rasevych, ABPA president, said the association has submitted a strategic review in a letter to Stephen Crawford, Ontario minister of public and business service delivery and procurement. In the letter, ABPA argues that while the act aims to prioritize Ontario businesses, its definitions favour southern, urban, and non-Indigenous entities. Rasevych told The Chronicle-Journal that the legislation ignores the reality of the Northern economy and the constitutionally distinct status of First Nations by setting rigid thresholds for employee counts and permanent headquarters. He called the Buy Ontario Act,","og_url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/22\/anishnawbe-business-professional-association-act-has-southern-centric-bias\/","og_site_name":"The Turtle Island News","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TurtleIslandNews\/","article_published_time":"2026-01-22T18:35:06+00:00","og_image":[{"width":725,"height":483,"url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/facebooklogo.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Lynda Powless","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@newsattheturtle","twitter_site":"@newsattheturtle","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Lynda Powless","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/22\/anishnawbe-business-professional-association-act-has-southern-centric-bias\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/22\/anishnawbe-business-professional-association-act-has-southern-centric-bias\/"},"author":{"name":"Lynda Powless","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458"},"headline":"Anishnawbe Business Professional Association: Act has ‘southern-centric bias’","datePublished":"2026-01-22T18:35:06+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/22\/anishnawbe-business-professional-association-act-has-southern-centric-bias\/"},"wordCount":492,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#organization"},"articleSection":["National News","ticker"],"inLanguage":"en-CA"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/22\/anishnawbe-business-professional-association-act-has-southern-centric-bias\/","url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/22\/anishnawbe-business-professional-association-act-has-southern-centric-bias\/","name":"Anishnawbe Business Professional Association: Act has 'southern-centric bias' - The Turtle Island News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2026-01-22T18:35:06+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/22\/anishnawbe-business-professional-association-act-has-southern-centric-bias\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-CA","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/22\/anishnawbe-business-professional-association-act-has-southern-centric-bias\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/22\/anishnawbe-business-professional-association-act-has-southern-centric-bias\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Anishnawbe Business Professional Association: Act has ‘southern-centric bias’"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/","name":"The Turtle Island News","description":"Your Source for Local News","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-CA"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#organization","name":"Turtle Island News","url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-CA","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/turtle150.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/turtle150.jpg","width":140,"height":150,"caption":"Turtle Island News"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TurtleIslandNews\/","https:\/\/x.com\/newsattheturtle","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCOqB-hG3L6hRLsmqY0e5k0g"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458","name":"Lynda Powless","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-CA","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9dcf622653a010411b0a01d44ed2a1a41158cc5195ea70acd7914787f81e63a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9dcf622653a010411b0a01d44ed2a1a41158cc5195ea70acd7914787f81e63a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9dcf622653a010411b0a01d44ed2a1a41158cc5195ea70acd7914787f81e63a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Lynda Powless"},"url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/author\/lynda\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101437","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/101363"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=101437"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101437\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":101438,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101437\/revisions\/101438"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=101437"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=101437"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=101437"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}