The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC) released its Final Report in 2015 aimed at all Canadians, Indigenous and non-Indigenous alike. The report detailed Canada’s genocidal histories against Indigenous peoples through the Indian Residential School system (1830s-1997). The public discussions, documents, and calls to action that comprised the TRC were designed to help foster an era of change in Canada. The question my research begins to answer then, is why does Reconciliation remain elusive?
The largest project I am working on in this area is a collaborative effort with Dr. Andrea Perrella (Wilfrid Laurier University – Department of Political Science). This partnership combines my knowledge of transitional justice, human rights, genocide, and colonialism with Dr. Perrella’s knowledge of Canadian politics, survey design, and quantitative analysis to study the impacts of the TRC, especially upon settler populations.
Multiple studies have demonstrated that Indigenous peoples overwhelmingly support Reconciliation, but support for Reconciliation among settler populations remains tenuous and nebulous. We understand a ‘settler’ as anyone who does not self-identify as Indigenous. This demographic constitutes a majority group in Canada when compared to Indigenous peoples. To fill this knowledge gap, we designed a national online survey, administered by Abacus Data in August 2021, to measure the state of Reconciliation in Canada among settler populations. An overarching goal of our study is to examine the possibilities and roles of “thin sympathy” in creating change – a theory proposed by Dr. Joanna R. Quinn (Western University – Department of Political Science).
As those in society who hold special powers and privileges to change politics, settlers play a central role in being agents for change or as blocking agents regarding Reconciliation and the rights of Indigenous peoples. Understanding the belief systems of this majority group in Canada can help better understand barriers to Reconciliation and avenues for future progress. We believe this is a unique study at the national level which will create a baseline of settler attitudes towards Reconciliation.
We are currently analyzing collected data with a goal of writing a journal article followed by a deeper discussion of the data and its relationships to Reconciliation and progress in a co-authored book manuscript in the next two years. The book manuscript will offer detailed accounts of past and present atrocities and injustices against Indigenous peoples in Canada, what sets of settler populations are willing to recognize and act, why change has and has not occurred, and, more broadly, how to create justice in periods of political change.
In addition to this study, I am working on additional independent projects examining types of genocide denial in settler colonial societies and the performative acts of renaming places and removing monuments in relation to Reconciliation.
The largest project I am working on in this area is a collaborative effort with Dr. Andrea Perrella (Wilfrid Laurier University – Department of Political Science). This partnership combines my knowledge of transitional justice, human rights, genocide, and colonialism with Dr. Perrella’s knowledge of Canadian politics, survey design, and quantitative analysis to study the impacts of the TRC, especially upon settler populations.
Multiple studies have demonstrated that Indigenous peoples overwhelmingly support Reconciliation, but support for Reconciliation among settler populations remains tenuous and nebulous. We understand a ‘settler’ as anyone who does not self-identify as Indigenous. This demographic constitutes a majority group in Canada when compared to Indigenous peoples. To fill this knowledge gap, we designed a national online survey, administered by Abacus Data in August 2021, to measure the state of Reconciliation in Canada among settler populations. An overarching goal of our study is to examine the possibilities and roles of “thin sympathy” in creating change – a theory proposed by Dr. Joanna R. Quinn (Western University – Department of Political Science).
As those in society who hold special powers and privileges to change politics, settlers play a central role in being agents for change or as blocking agents regarding Reconciliation and the rights of Indigenous peoples. Understanding the belief systems of this majority group in Canada can help better understand barriers to Reconciliation and avenues for future progress. We believe this is a unique study at the national level which will create a baseline of settler attitudes towards Reconciliation.
We are currently analyzing collected data with a goal of writing a journal article followed by a deeper discussion of the data and its relationships to Reconciliation and progress in a co-authored book manuscript in the next two years. The book manuscript will offer detailed accounts of past and present atrocities and injustices against Indigenous peoples in Canada, what sets of settler populations are willing to recognize and act, why change has and has not occurred, and, more broadly, how to create justice in periods of political change.
In addition to this study, I am working on additional independent projects examining types of genocide denial in settler colonial societies and the performative acts of renaming places and removing monuments in relation to Reconciliation.
Photo: Mohawk Institute Residential School, Territory of the Six Nations of the Grand River.
Source: Wikimedia Commons, 1932.
Source: Wikimedia Commons, 1932.
