Race, Ethnicity, Indigenous Peoples and Politics

L19 - Decolonizing Reconciliation

Date: Jun 1 | Time: 01:30pm to 03:00pm | Location: Classroom - CL 418 Room ID:15770

Chair/Président/Présidente : Toby Rollo (University of British Columbia)

Discussant/Commentateur/Commentatrice : Toby Rollo (University of British Columbia)

Moving Beyond a Politics of Recognition Toward a Politics of Responsibility: Settler Roles in the Move to Decolonize: Deanne LeBlanc (University of British Columbia)
Abstract: Prevalent arguments within Canadian political theory and society posit that moving beyond contemporary colonial situations can only be accomplished through either more fully extending a liberal democratic citizenship to Indigenous peoples, or through properly ‘recognizing’ them from within a predominantly non-Indigenous worldview and societal structure. Both approaches, I contend, are not only inappropriate to our colonial realities, they also set us along a path toward the further entrenchment of colonial structures, relations and policies. I argue that in moving beyond either a liberal citizenship or recognition-based approach to decolonization, non-Indigenous peoples need to broaden their conceptions around what it means to belong and to, specifically, question the primacy of rights over responsibilities as presented within the liberal democratic literature. As an alternative to these approaches I suggest that non-Indigenous peoples consider themselves ‘foreigners’ in need of invitation onto Indigenous lands (both past and present). I suggest that as colonial denizens non-Indigenous Canadians take up an ethos that encourages them to re-evaluate their lives and relations with Indigenous peoples, Indigenous lands and the settler state. Re-evaluations which encourage settlers to question the sovereignty of the state, the impacts of the Canadian citizenship regime and their daily relations at the same time that they encourage settlers to place responsibilities to others above inwardly-focused rights. I contend that identifying and acting upon such an ethos can act as a way through which non-Indigenous peoples can appropriately and seriously meet Indigenous peoples’ calls for change.

Intergenerational Incarceration, Indigenous Communities, and Truth and Reconciliation in Canada: Linda Mussell (Queen's University)
Abstract: Intergenerational incarceration, that is cycles of incarceration within families, is an under-researched and under-recognized human rights and dignity issue which disproportionately impacts Indigenous peoples in countries that continue to grapple with colonial legacies. In Canada, this issue is increasingly being recognized as a policy priority given that prisons are being called the “new residential schools” (Macdonald, 2016), and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC, 2015a) calls upon all levels of governments to commit “to eliminating the over-representation of Aboriginal people in custody over the next decade, (p. 7)” and to “respond to the underlying causes of offending (p. 7).” Indigenous organizations including Native Women’s Association of Canada (2017) and the Assembly of First Nations (AFN, 2017) identify that current programs and services are failing, and immediate action is needed. This paper examines the situation of intergenerational incarceration in Canada, first establishing a decolonial and holistic approach to the issue, second examining the gaps in existing literature, and third examining gaps in policy responses. As part of analysis, the paper elucidates how the TRC, a commission which speaks to the need for systemic reform, may be considered in future response to this issue in Canada. With an overall goal of centering focus on resilient peoples, communities, and nations (Fast & Collin-Vézina, 2010), this paper asserts that there is much possibility for creating an improved future.

Reconciling the News Media: Considering the Prospects and Implications of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's Calls to Action for Canadian Journalists: Brian Budd (University of Guelph)
Abstract: Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) has had a widespread effect on Indigenous-Settler discourse since it released its Final Report and accompanying Calls to Action in 2015. One group highlighted within the TRC’s Calls to Action are journalists and media organizations. The influence that news organizations have in mediating understanding and dialogue between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples received special attention by the TRC, who in their final report called for journalists to play an active role in the political project of reconciliation. My paper considers how the news media have interpreted the Calls to Action by the TRC, what a “decolonized” press might look like in theory and practice, and the limitations of the press in reforming their relationship with Indigenous peoples. My paper advances the argument that the current proposals aimed at reconciling journalism and the news media rely on a multicultural framework focused on improving media diversity by increasing the representation of Indigenous peoples within journalism and offering more empathetic representations of Indigenous issue in news stories and media content. This approach guides media to engage in what scholars have termed “the colonial politics of recognition”, whereby Indigenous peoples and cultures are recognized and acknowledged in a manner that does not challenge the sovereignty of the settler state. Consequently, the media’s attempts at reconciliation, while leading to more positive representations of Indigeneity, may work to exclude the types of substantive decolonial reforms advocated by Indigenous peoples and leave the structural logic of settler colonialism unchallenged within media discourse.

Indigenous Rights and the Judicial Evisceration of Reconciliation: Michael McCrossan (University of New Brunswick - Saint John)
Abstract: Since the mid-1990s, discourses of reconciliation have continued to remain prominent in Canadian politics, most notably at the federal level in relation to ‘renewing’ nation-to-nation relationships with Indigenous peoples and ‘recognizing’ Indigenous rights. However, during this same period the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) has gone from describing reconciliation as a core principle structuring its interpretation of both Aboriginal and treaty rights to, at times, omitting reference to ‘reconciliation’ entirely in its treaty rights decisions. This paper will attempt to account for this divergence by tracing the fluctuating character of the SCC’s use and understanding of reconciliation, paying particular attention to the SCC’s jurisprudence over the course of the last four years concerning Aboriginal title, treaty rights, and Crown duties to consult. By engaging with the logics and shifting representations of reconciliation found within the SCC’s decisions and respective hearing transcripts, this paper ultimately aims to provide a fuller conception of the socio-cultural relations of power entrenched within the legal domain.