S4 E7: Ethical Entrenchment—A Professional Place for Traditional Indigenous Values, feat. John Desjarlais

John Desjarlais, a professional engineer who grew up in Cumberland House, Sask., explores the values-based teachings of Indigenous peoples and his own Métis upbringing for pathways into more representative codes of ethics for professional bodies.

A proponent of practical approaches to engraining truth and reconcilation (or conciliation or reciprocity) in the lives of all Canadians, Desjarlais speaks with hosts Jessica Vandenberghe and George Lee about community wealth, role-modelling, the need for representation of Indigenous communities and peoples among decision-makers and policy-makers, and much more.

"When I looked at the Cree code of ethics, I was, like, wow. It's all virtues. It's values. It's ways of being," says Dejarlais, a past president of the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Saskatchewan. Non-Indigenous codes of ethics tend to focus on duty, he said — and would benefit from expanding into values that accent things like humility, respect and relationships.