The Canadian Indigenous Investment Summit came to fruition as the result of a chance meeting at Canada House in June 2023 between Mark Magnacca, founder and CEO of GIGCMO LTD., and Robert Brant, at the time managing partner of the London office of McCarthy Tétrault.
Mark recognised the surname Brant and introduced himself to Rob. He asked whether Rob was a descendant of Thayendanegea, known to history as Chief Joseph Brant, the Mohawk war chief and statesman who fought with the British, British Americans, Canadians and others in the American Revolutionary War. Rob answered yes, he was, and Mark said "Wow, what a coincidence!" — because his direct ancestor, Daniel Rose, was a proven Brant Volunteer, one of the men who served directly under Thayendanegea's command from 1778 to 1781.
Born in Scotland and settled in New York before the war, Daniel Rose joined Joseph Brant's Volunteers at the Susquehanna River in 1778. When denied back pay for eighteen months of service, he and his fellow volunteers declared they had served the Crown "from principle and not for the sake of Enrichment" and continued without pay under Thayendanegea's command until the war's end. Mark's lineage as a proven descendant of Daniel Rose is recorded in the UELAC Loyalist Directory (MC#16359-22).
The Brant name itself was born in London. Sa Ga Yeath Qua Pieth Tow, known to the British as Peter Brant, and grandfather of Thayendanegea, was among the Four Kings of Canada who crossed the Atlantic in 1710 to meet Queen Anne, carrying the authority of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy to the very seat of the British Crown. It was in London that the name Brant was first given to the family. That a descendant would stand in that same city more than three centuries later, and choose to use that name and that history to build something new for Indigenous Peoples across Canada, speaks to the continuity of purpose that runs through this story.
Mark and Rob had a subsequent discussion where Rob outlined his own experience of being an Indigenous person in Canada — not 400 years ago, 300 years ago, 200 years ago or 100 years ago, but as a member of the same generation as Mark. Mark, of course, like many Canadians, had heard about the reserve system and was aware of the pain and suffering Indigenous Peoples had suffered over the years. However, this was the first time he had actually heard in person from an Indigenous person their own story.
Mark immediately said that his ancestor would have been ashamed to learn that the Chief and the Indigenous Peoples he had fought alongside as brothers, his neighbours, were not even regarded as second-class citizens in their own land.
Rob also talked about the change brought about by the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), adopted by the General Assembly on 13th September 2007, and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and that Indigenous Peoples were now in a position to claim their own rights, and that, like Rob, many of his generation were in positions to effect real change.
Mark and Rob decided to act. First, to show that the battle their ancestors fought together in the past remains a battle they would fight together in the future — for the advancement of the country we call Canada. They believed that one of the best things they could do, given that they both worked in the City of London, was to create an opportunity in one of the world's leading financial centres: to convene all the stakeholders, to share the real story of Indigenous-led opportunity in Canada, and to dispel the myth that Indigenous Peoples are against development. They wanted to provide a platform for Indigenous Nations and communities to share how to successfully invest in Canada in partnership with them, and to showcase the opportunities across natural resources and infrastructure.
The Canadian Indigenous Investment Summit held its inaugural event in May 2024. What began as an annual gathering has since expanded into a year-round platform, formally established as the Canadian Indigenous Investment Forum on 8 April 2026.
The Summit now serves as part of the Forum's broader year-round work. The name changed, but the mission did not: creating space for Indigenous Peoples to be recognised not only as constitutional rights-holders, but as equal partners in Canada's economic future. The Forum continues to bring together the boardroom, the investment community, and Indigenous leadership, not to revisit the past, but to build the partnerships that define Canada's future.
From left to right: Mark Magnacca (Co-chair), Canon Paul Wright, and Robert Brant (Co-chair) holding the Wampum of Niagara.