{"id":107385,"date":"2026-07-29T12:54:01","date_gmt":"2026-07-29T16:54:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/?p=107385"},"modified":"2026-07-29T12:54:01","modified_gmt":"2026-07-29T16:54:01","slug":"dene-nation-frustrated-by-gnwts-diluted-approach-to-indigenous-procurement-policy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/29\/dene-nation-frustrated-by-gnwts-diluted-approach-to-indigenous-procurement-policy\/","title":{"rendered":"Dene Nation frustrated by GNWT\u2019s \u2018diluted\u2019 approach to Indigenous procurement policy"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By Kody Ferron, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Yellowknifer The Dene Nation is expressing its \u201cprofound disappointment and frustration\u201d in the GNWT\u2019s failure to implement an Indigenous procurement policy. In 2021, an independent panel made recommendations to the GNWT to revise and better implement its Indigenous procurement policy. As of July 2026, the GNWT has announced that it will not implement any such policy. Instead, it has modified its definition of an Indigenous business and has scrapped plans to implement an Indigenous procurement policy entirely. On July 28, the Dene Nation expressed its deep disappointment in the GNWT for its decision to abandon plans for a proper Indigenous procurement policy \u2014 something First Nations in the NWT have been championing for years. \u201cThe Dene Nation, led by National Chief George Mackenzie,&#8230; <\/p>\n<div class=\"pmpro\">\n<div class=\"pmpro_card pmpro_content_message\">\n<div class=\"pmpro_card_content\">This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription &#8211; Corporate, Print Subscription Only, Canada Print and Online, and USA Print and Online members only.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?action=register\">Register<\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"pmpro_card_actions pmpro_font-medium\">Already a member? <a href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Ftheturtleislandnews.com%2Findex.php%2F2026%2F07%2F29%2Fdene-nation-frustrated-by-gnwts-diluted-approach-to-indigenous-procurement-policy%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Kody Ferron, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Yellowknifer The Dene Nation is expressing its \u201cprofound disappointment and frustration\u201d in the GNWT\u2019s failure to implement an Indigenous procurement policy. In 2021, an independent panel made recommendations to the GNWT to revise and better implement its Indigenous procurement policy. As of July 2026, the GNWT has announced that it will not implement any such policy. Instead, it has modified its definition of an Indigenous business and has scrapped plans to implement an Indigenous procurement policy entirely. On July 28, the Dene Nation expressed its deep disappointment in the GNWT for its decision to abandon plans for a proper Indigenous procurement policy \u2014 something First Nations in the NWT have been championing for years. \u201cThe Dene Nation, led by National Chief George Mackenzie,... <\/p>\n<div class=\"pmpro\"><div class=\"pmpro_card pmpro_content_message\"><div class=\"pmpro_card_content\">This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription - Corporate, Print Subscription Only, Canada Print and Online, and USA Print and Online members only.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?action=register\">Register<\/a><\/div><div class=\"pmpro_card_actions pmpro_font-medium\">Already a member? <a href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Ftheturtleislandnews.com%2Findex.php%2F2026%2F07%2F29%2Fdene-nation-frustrated-by-gnwts-diluted-approach-to-indigenous-procurement-policy%2F\">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-107385","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-level-8","pmpro-no-access"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Dene Nation frustrated by GNWT\u2019s \u2018diluted\u2019 approach to Indigenous procurement policy - 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\/07\/29\/dene-nation-frustrated-by-gnwts-diluted-approach-to-indigenous-procurement-policy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Dene Nation frustrated by GNWT\u2019s \u2018diluted\u2019 approach to Indigenous procurement policy - The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Kody Ferron, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Yellowknifer The Dene Nation is expressing its \u201cprofound disappointment and frustration\u201d in the GNWT\u2019s failure to implement an Indigenous procurement policy. In 2021, an independent panel made recommendations to the GNWT to revise and better implement its Indigenous procurement policy. As of July 2026, the GNWT has announced that it will not implement any such policy. Instead, it has modified its definition of an Indigenous business and has scrapped plans to implement an Indigenous procurement policy entirely. On July 28, the Dene Nation expressed its deep disappointment in the GNWT for its decision to abandon plans for a proper Indigenous procurement policy \u2014 something First Nations in the NWT have been championing for years. \u201cThe Dene Nation, led by National Chief George Mackenzie,\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/29\/dene-nation-frustrated-by-gnwts-diluted-approach-to-indigenous-procurement-policy\/\" \/>\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=\"2026-07-29T16:54:01+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=\"2 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\\\/07\\\/29\\\/dene-nation-frustrated-by-gnwts-diluted-approach-to-indigenous-procurement-policy\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/29\\\/dene-nation-frustrated-by-gnwts-diluted-approach-to-indigenous-procurement-policy\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lynda Powless\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458\"},\"headline\":\"Dene Nation frustrated by GNWT\u2019s \u2018diluted\u2019 approach to Indigenous procurement policy\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-29T16:54:01+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/29\\\/dene-nation-frustrated-by-gnwts-diluted-approach-to-indigenous-procurement-policy\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":469,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"National News\",\"ticker\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/29\\\/dene-nation-frustrated-by-gnwts-diluted-approach-to-indigenous-procurement-policy\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/29\\\/dene-nation-frustrated-by-gnwts-diluted-approach-to-indigenous-procurement-policy\\\/\",\"name\":\"Dene Nation frustrated by GNWT\u2019s \u2018diluted\u2019 approach to Indigenous procurement policy - 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