New APTN show spotlights Indigenous businesses
Reality TV fans have a new opportunity to get their fix of business shows, as a new series features Indigenous businesspeople from across Canada.
Airing on Sunday nights on APTN, Bear’s Lair is similar to Shark Tank and Dragon’s Den, but instead of pitching their ideas and giving up ownership of their companies, contestants are trying to make it back to the final episode and win the $100,000 grand prize.
Six episodes are grouped into categories, and contestants try to impress the judges with their business ideas.
Show creator, judge, and Indigenous business mentor, Geena Jackson said the series can’t be called a competition, but something close.
“We’re calling it a ‘co-op’etition because I think people that watch the series are going to see that about how we uplift each other, how we support each other,” Jackson told CTV News.
One of the contestants is 3R Innovative Imaging, a business made up of high school students from One Arrow First Nation.
Phoenix Willier, Andy Daniels and Ruby Daniels take recycled materials and create unique Indigenous youth artwork.
Business Club Coordinator, Joe Taylor said it started as a school project, but the students have been taking and fulfilling orders throughout the pandemic. Now, their artwork is carried in 14 stores.
Business Club Coordinator Joe Taylor, Phoenix Willier, Andy Daniels and Ruby Daniels of 3R Innovative Imaging. (John Flatters/CTV News)“We used business as a way of finding out about things they knew nothing about, and meeting people they would not otherwise have a chance to,” Taylor said. “They’ve met the movers and shakers of the corporate world, and everywhere they go, they become the centre of attention in a heartbeat.”
Self-taught Indigenous baker, Alicia Hrbachek of Ally’s Cake Creeations said showcasing her business to the Bears was a great experience, but the connections she made are even more rewarding.
“It was a super supportive environment,” Hrbachek told CTV News.
“And then to be surrounded by so many Indigenous entrepreneurs, some just starting up and some way up there with buildings and staff, it just made me feel like where I was in my life was where I was supposed to be.”
The final episode of season one airs October 16th, but Jackson said plans for season two are already in motion.
“I’m just so excited for the nation to see who we are as people,” she said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
'Anything to win': Trudeau says as Poilievre defends meeting protesters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
'One of the single most terrifying things ever': Ontario couple among passengers on sinking tour boat in Dominican Republic
A Toronto couple are speaking out about their 'extremely dangerous' experience on board a sinking tour boat in the Dominican Republic last week.
Boeing's financial woes continue, while families of crash victims urge U.S. to prosecute the company
Boeing said Wednesday that it lost US$355 million on falling revenue in the first quarter, another sign of the crisis gripping the aircraft manufacturer as it faces increasing scrutiny over the safety of its planes and accusations of shoddy work from a growing number of whistleblowers.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
It's no secret that spring can be a tumultuous time for Canadian weather, and as an unseasonably mild El Nino winter gives way to summer, there's bound to be a few swings in temperature that seem out of the ordinary. From Ontario to the Atlantic, though, this week is about to feel a little erratic.