Teqare founder Darion Ducharme provides group workshops on online safety for Indigenous people of all ages.David Lipnowski/The Globe and Mail
The idea for Teqare began during founder and owner Darion Ducharme’s years working in telecommunications, when he started to notice a concerning recurring pattern with elders and senior citizens.
“I saw them coming to my kiosk saying, ‘Hey, I want to send money to the CRA agent with this gift card,’ taking pictures of gift cards. I saw this countless amounts of times and it broke my heart — because not every senior citizen or aging adult had access to a support system, like a family, grandkids or kids that could help them,” he says.
In 2019, Mr. Ducharme’s wife died of cancer, which spurred him to take the leap to start Teqare, a company that provides workshops focused on scam prevention, financial literacy, cyber security, and digital safety.
“I realized how short life is and how short life can be and I took that risk on what I felt like was the calling in my heart to help people,” he says. “The synergy with technology and helping people was exactly what I felt like I was called to do.”
At the beginning, the company offered clients individual meetings with trainers, but quickly they realized there were more people who needed help than they could help with one-on-one sessions, leading to the current group workshop model.
“There has been a shortage and security professionals for many years. But with AI, the attacks are increasing, so the demand for security people is really required more because people are getting attacked more,” says Karen Kabel, the associate dean of creative arts & applied computer education at Red River College Polytech in Winnipeg.
The workshops have been effective, Mr. Ducharme says, especially for elders living in remote areas. In those cases, connection is crucial but can be daunting, since many elders are accessing high-speed internet for the first time. Teqare’s workshops help take away anxiety around the internet, so they can feel confident connecting online without fearing hackers and scammers.
As cyber-attacks increase, particularly ones targeting Indigenous people, Mr. Ducharme saw an opportunity to use his telecommunications skills to support his community.David Lipnowski/The Globe and Mail
After one workshop, for example, Mr. Ducharme explained, “An elder came up and said, ‘I don’t have a phone, a landline, I don’t have a cell phone, and I don’t have a tablet or computer, but I want all three. Because I want to be able to go online. I’m not scared of online anymore and I want to be able to connect with my loved ones.’”
However, seniors are no longer the only targets of scams. “Now it doesn’t actually matter the age that you are. They can happen to anyone and [falling for] scams — it doesn’t mean you’re naïve,” says Mr. Ducharme.
That’s why Teqare has also expanded to offer tailored training for kids as young as grade two, on topics such as cyber bullying and staying safe on video games, all the way up to grade 12, on topics such as how to stay safe while online dating. Teqare has held training sessions in over 100 schools and over 70 different First Nations as far north as Churchill, Man., and as far south as Roseau River, Man.
Although Mr. Ducharme wants to see Teqare’s programming at schools across Canada and the workshops are open to everyone, Ms. Kabel notes that the company is unique for its focus on Indigenous communities.
“One of the things that’s important about what [Teqare is] doing is he takes into account the culture and the communications of Indigenous peoples. It’s not the same type of communications that another company might provide or support — he respects the elders and the ways of Indigenous people, which is really important to build that trust and get that buy-in from folks that he’s working with,” she says.
This is an important aspect of Teqare’s value system. “I recognize that a lot of times our First Nations are the most underserved,” says Mr. Ducharme, who is a member of Lac Seul First Nation. “Because of remote locations, it costs a lot of money for flights and not every place has high-speed internet. You have to go in person — and that’s what makes my company different is that I want to never forget our First Nations.”
Importantly, this focus is also a business opportunity. As Ms. Kabel notes, many companies in Manitoba, for example, cannot afford large consulting companies like Deloitte or PricewaterhouseCoopers, despite needing the security. Beyond cost, there are also scams that target First Nations members specifically, which those large companies are not always equipped to address.
“The beautiful thing about having a smaller business, like ours, is we can adapt and pivot really quick,” he says. “So if a new scam comes out and we’re hearing about this in the news, within the next few days, we make sure we add that into all of our programming.”
One in a regular series of stories. To read more, visit our Indigenous Enterprises section. If you have suggestions for future stories, reach out to IE@globeandmail.com.