Orland “OD” Hansen is salmon farmer’s Director of Reconciliation.
In a press release today, Grieg Seafood BC writes that it has added the role of Director of Reconciliation to the company and that Hansen will work with coastal Indigenous communities. He will then liaise with Grieg BC’s employees to help the company move towards “better understanding of the importance and purpose of reconciliation with Canada’s Indigenous peoples, as well as UNDRIP (United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples)”.
Orland “OD” Hansen, who is of Inuit-Danish descent, recently accepted the position and has over 20 years of experience in Indigenous relations in the oil and gas industry working in companies like Schlumberger and Husky Energy.
“We are very excited to welcome Orland Hansen to the Grieg team,” said Rocky Boschman, Managing Director of Grieg Seafood BC. “His professional and personal experience in Indigenous relations and reconciliation will help us grow, not only as a company but as people and partners going forward.”
“We appreciate the value and importance of our Indigenous partners in the territories where our farms are operating, but I think there are a lot more opportunities to learn from them, listen to them and grow with them. Having our employees recognize UNDRIP and our commitment to reconciliation will be a part of that, and this will be supported by the insight Orland has developed over several decades.”
12 of Grieg BC’s farms operate in partnership with First Nations and its workforce includes 10% Indigenous persons.
Hansen, who “grew up in the bush” with his hunting and trapping family in Aklavik, Northwest Territories, said that he was excited to take the role: “This is dear to me, and something I’d really like to do. It shows respect. It shows that the company and their ideals are such that they have an appreciation of where they are and of the people that are indigenous to that area. It’s in my job title, but I would have to gain appreciation from the communities here and what they think reconciliation means to them and what they think we as a company should be working towards.”
“The onus is now on the industry as well as government to keep [reconciliation] going, to keep showing that you’re serious about working with Indigenous communities, about listening to them and following up on it – taking their advice and requests and actually doing something about it,” he added.
