A common vision and strong partnerships can create long-term benefits for citizens,while respecting the land for future generations, explains Canderel’s William Briscoe.The Taza development – a joint venture between Canadian private real estate company Canderel and the Tsuut’ina Nation, a reserve home to 2,300 community members adjacent to the city of Calgary, Alberta – is the flagship ESG project in Canderel’s portfolio and one of the largest First Nation development projects in North America. By combining industry best practices with direct Indigenous participation and leadership, Taza reflects the partnership’s vision to transform and realize economic reconciliation, explains Taza Development Corporation’s chief executive, William Briscoe.
Q What is economic reconciliation? And why is it an important goal for ESG conscious real estate players?
The definitions of economic reconciliation vary, but for us, it comes down to just doing good business. Lasting businesses are built on relationships, not transactions. And the foundation of strong relationships is building an empathetic understanding of someone’s worldviews: considering the context of how they think and where their emotions are rooted. By genuinely being interested in the other person or community, you can begin to form trust, find alignments and create strong bonds of partnership, and good and lasting businesses. From an Indigenous perspective, economic reconciliation is often grounded in the land and that is at the heart of their worldview. Real estate development is also based in land, but it’s not always in the same context. When we apply ESG principles and expand the discussion to include community, the discourse becomes people-centric, examining the relationships and interactions people have with the land. This naturally progresses to how best to manage and govern the land. From an ESG-conscious viewpoint, there are many natural synergies that can be applied that advance economic reconciliation. Bringing an Indigenous perspective to a business relationship brings forward the ESG principles and vice versa.
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