Gustavson Strengthens Indigenous Leadership with Appointment of François Bastien as First Associate Dean Indigenous
The Gustavson School of Business is proud to announce that François Bastien has been appointed as the school’s first-ever Associate Dean Indigenous. A faculty member since 2020, when he joined as an associate professor, Bastien brings five years of leadership and scholarship to this new role.
Bastien is one of four ADI’s throughout UVic. These senior academic roles are a significant step in advancing UVic’s Indigenous Plan—xʷkʷənəŋistəl | W̱ȻENEṈISTEL | Helping to move each other forward—and reflect our shared responsibility to uphold ʔetalnəwəl | ÁTOL,NEUEL | respecting the rights of one another and being in right relationship with all things.
The appointments respond to both community calls and faculty needs for dedicated Indigenous leadership to support curriculum reform, hiring and evaluation processes, mentorship of Indigenous students, and meaningful engagement with local Nations.
About François Bastien
François Bastien’s story begins in Wendake. He is a member of the Huron-Wendat First Nation. He and his family now reside on the traditional lands of the W̱SÁNEĆ Peoples and are grateful for the opportunity to live and learn from those who have stewarded and protected the lands on which they now reside since time immemorial. He has worked for, lived in, played and developed relationships with many Indigenous Peoples and communities which have all contributed to his learning journey. While doing so, he has observed various incongruities between Indigenous ways of organizing and contemporary colonial models. Throughout his academic work in various Western post-secondary institutions, he has also noticed a shared struggle to decolonize and indigenize. Reconciliation for him means embarking on a mutually beneficial co-constructed journey of transformation and collaboration between Western and Indigenous worldviews; a road that is built and shared as opposed to being static and owned.
What does it mean to you to step into the role of Associate Dean Indigenous?
Stepping into this role is both an honour and a responsibility. It signals UVic’s continued commitment to Xʷkʷənəŋistəl | W̱ȻENEṈISTEL | Helping to move each other forward, UVic’s Indigenous Plan 2023 and reflects the foundational vision of Qwul’sih’yah’maht, Robina Thomas, Acting President and vice-chancellor—and former VP Indigenous, who has shown us what it truly means to decolonize from within. It also reflects the Gustavson School of Business’s willingness to jump into the river—to move beyond rhetoric and engage in the difficult, necessary work of relational accountability. I am grateful for the opportunity to contribute by helping attract more Indigenous students and faculty, and by weaving Indigenous Knowledges and ways of being into the very fabric of our programs, policies, and practices.
How do you think this role will help shift or shape the university in a good way?
This role creates space to return to a principle long held by Indigenous Nations: the importance of working together with good heart and good mind. Here at UVic, we are located on the territories of the Lək̓ʷəŋən Peoples (Songhees and Xʷsepsəm/Esquimalt) and the W̱SÁNEĆ Peoples, who are not stakeholders—they are rightsholders. Recognizing this changes everything. It demands that the Gustavson School of Business and the broader university continue their work of moving beyond extractive models of engagement and toward relationships rooted in respect, reciprocity, and relational continuity. This means listening deeply and developing partnerships that are culturally grounded, community-led, and responsive to the visions of Indigenous Peoples themselves.
What does meaningful Indigenous engagement look like in your faculty?
Meaningful Indigenous engagement means rethinking our systems at every level. It means creating welcoming and culturally supportive pathways for Indigenous learners. It means re-examining and decolonizing our curricula to ensure that Indigenous students don’t just survive in our programs, but thrive. It means supporting research that reconciles knowledge systems—not through token inclusion, but by dismantling cognitive imperialism and confronting epistemic ignorance. Above all, it means co-constructing a shared journey between Indigenous and Western worldviews, building a road that is alive, relational and continually shaped by those who walk it—not one that is paved, static or owned.
Why is Indigenous leadership at this level important?
Because without Indigenous leadership, reconciliation risks becoming hollow—another institutional performance for optics and compliance. Too often, reconciliation initiatives are reduced to surface-level gestures: a territorial acknowledgement here, a smudging ceremony there—performed without meaningful engagement or change. These cosmetic actions perpetuate a colonial status quo. Indigenous leadership, particularly when embedded within an institutional Indigenous plan, ensures that the work is not performative but transformational. It helps ensure that we don’t just name Indigenous communities at the bottom of our emails, but build real, accountable relationships with them.
What are your priorities or hopes for the first year in this role?
My top priority is to strengthen and renew relationships with the original stewards of these lands where UVic is located. This involves visiting communities, listening without agenda and identifying shared priorities. It also means working within the faculty to create internal capacity for decolonial engagement—supporting faculty and staff to move from intention to action. My hope is that by year’s end, the Gustavson School of Business will have deepened its relationships with Indigenous communities.
How do you see this role supporting Indigenous students, staff, and faculty?
This role exists to help create the conditions in which Indigenous students, staff and faculty are not only welcomed but genuinely respected, heard and supported. It means advocating for systemic changes that address the barriers they face—from curriculum design and hiring practices to classroom experiences and research recognition. It also means building a sense of kinship and community—spaces where Indigenous Peoples feel connected to each other.