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JournalISSN: 0269-9222

British Journal of Canadian Studies 

Liverpool University Press
About: British Journal of Canadian Studies is an academic journal published by Liverpool University Press. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): Politics & Poetry. It has an ISSN identifier of 0269-9222. Over the lifetime, 608 publications have been published receiving 4222 citations.


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Journal Article
TL;DR: The final report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC) has been published in six volumes and 3053 pages as mentioned in this paper, covering not only the history and activities of those running and controlling the residential schools (IRS) but also the history of the relations between Indigenous peoples and settlers since the time of first contact.
Abstract: Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, Canada's Residential Schools: The Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, Volumes 1-6, plus summary in French (Montreal and Kingston: McGill-Queen's University Press/Native and Northern Series, 2015).Volume 1: Canada's Residential Schools: The History, Part 1, Origins to 1939. 978 pp. Paper. £29.99. ISBN 978-0-7735-4650-9.Volume 1: Canada's Residential Schools: The History, Part 2, 1939-2000, 824 pp. Paper. £29.99. ISBN 978-0-7735-4652-3.Volume 2: Canada's Residential Schools: The Inuit and Northern Experience, 266 pp. Paper. £20.99. ISBN 978-0-7735-4654-7.Volume 3: Canada's Residential Schools: The Metis Experience. 88 pp. Paper. £14.99. ISBN 978-0-7735-4656-1.Volume 4: Canada's Residential Schools: Missing Children and Unmarked Burials. 272 pp. Paper. £20.99. ISBN 978-0-7735-4658-5.Volume 5: Canada's Residential Schools: The Legacy. 272 pp. Paper. £21.99. ISBN 978-0-7735-4660-8.Volume 6: Canada's Residential Schools: Reconciliation. 296 pp. Paper. £20.99. ISBN 978-0-7735-4622-2.Honorer la Verite, reconcilier pour l'avenir: Sommaire du Rapport final de la Commission de verite et reconciliation du Canada. 592 pp. £20.99. ISBN 978-0-7735-4670-7.Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, Volume 1: Summary, Honouring the Truth, Reconciling for the Future (Toronto: James Lorimer & Company Limited, 2015), 536 pp. Paper. $22.95. ISBN 978-1-4594-1067.In his introduction to this long-awaited Report, Chair Justice Murray Sinclair describes the Indian Residential Schools system as 'one of the darkest, most troubling chapters in our nation's history', especially, he continues, because 'its target and its victims were the most vulnerable of our society: little children'. The most important finding of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) is that this programme amounted to cultural genocide. It was an attempt to wipe out the Indigenous way of life and culture in Canada and involved many broken lives and many deaths.In six volumes and 3053 pages, the report covers not only the history and activities of those running and controlling the residential schools (IRS) but also the history of the relations between Indigenous peoples and settlers since the time of first contact. It describes the TRC and its Report as the beginning, not the conclusion, of the reconciliation process and looks to the future with its 94 Calls to Action to the governments and churches who perpetrated this crime against humanity. The TRC calls on the federal government to implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples immediately, since, it declares, without radical action, the apologies to IRS survivors given in 2010 are worthless.The TRC was not a Royal Commission. It came into being as a provision in the IRS Settlement Agreement of 2005, which was a private agreement settling claims for all living survivors who had spent any time in these schools together with additional compensation for physical, mental and sexual abuse suffered. The government set aside $C1.9 billion to settle these claims. However, the terms of reference for the TRC reflected its status as part of a private settlement in that they had no powers to subpoena witnesses and were prohibited from naming the perpetrators or implying that they were involved in any criminal activity. Needless to say, this has led to criticisms that the Report does not go far enough, does not tell the full truth, and that it is a whitewash (see, for example, Kevin Annett, Murder by Decree: The Crime of Genocide in Canada, [Toronto and Brussels, ITDC, 2016]). And yet the main criticisms that it does not deal fully with the fate of murdered and disappeared children and that incriminating government documents were deliberately withheld by the Commission are fully met in the detail of the report. …

124 citations

Journal Article
TL;DR: Mcready argues that the militarisation of national identity relies on Mackey's (2002) "ordinary citizens" defined as white, non-political and masculine, and excludes "special interest groups" such as immigrants, people of colour, lesbians and gays and women as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: and multiculturalism to a neoliberal militarisation of identity. McCready creates a strong case throughout the book that not only was there a shift, but the myths of peacekeeping and multiculturalism were even used within these campaigns to justify the militarisation of Canadian foreign and domestic policy and the transposition from welfare state to security state. Arguing that the militarisation of national identity relies on Mackey’s (2002) ‘ordinary citizens’, defined as white, non-political and masculine, and excludes ‘special interest groups’ such as ‘immigrants, people of colour, lesbians and gays and ... women’ (p. 57), McCready is unapologetically critical of the Conservative Harper government and the developing security state. Analysing several ‘support the troop’ campaigns, McCready concludes that the campaigns ‘cloak themselves in liberal individualism’ and a superficial representation of ‘populist political authenticity’ while it ‘does the work of government’ to restore an ‘enobled and empowered masculinity’ (p. 56) that harks back to colonisation of the Empire; while Canadian identity was once built on the myth of ‘peacekeeping’, the military role has become one of moral authority and arbitrator of democracy. Although the chapter on Militarized Cultural Production, and especially the section on the film Passchendaele, is particularly descriptive, McCready argues that militarisation is not a particular set of values, but rather a blurring of the political and social lines, and relies on the traditions of oppression and exploitation. While McCready articulates a changing narrative of national self from loyalty to the British Empire to a focus on Trudeau’s multiculturalism and civility, she completely disregards the notion of Canadian duality, the legitimacy of two national communities within a federation (which was of course problematic in itself ). While McCready’s focus on indigeneity and gender was certainly a strength of the book, there is little mentioned about the contestation of Quebecois and Franco-Canadians for representation within the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and within the larger Canadian identity. Readers, especially those interested in the changing state, national identity and sense of belonging, will be interested in McCready’s analysis of inclusion and exclusion, and the role of the Afghan War as justification for policy under the Harper government. McCready uses an interesting array of analysis (close readings, material history, and discourse analysis) that accurately supports her thesis argument and allows her the freedom to critique the circulations of power through programs invoked by the government (new military ads, the Canada First Defence Strategy), as well as the ‘grass-roots’ programs mentioned above. One can certainly applaud the way in which McCready ‘sticks to her guns’ and creates a well-argued case for the militarisation of national identity. Megan Melanson, University of Edinburgh

114 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In much of the world, and particularly in Europe, there is a widespread perception that multiculturalism has failed, and Canada has not been immune to these rising global anxieties as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: In much of the world, and particularly in Europe, there is a widespread perception that multiculturalism has failed, and Canada has not been immune to these rising global anxieties. A number of commentators have argued that smug complacency is blinding Canadians to growing evidence of stresses and failures in ethnic relations in their country. In this article, we explore this evolving debate. We briefly review the global backlash against multiculturalism, and why some commentators see warning signs in Canada as well. We then look at the evidence about how the multiculturalism policy in Canada operates, and about trends in immigrant integration and ethnic relations. We show that there are indeed stresses and strains within Canadian multiculturalism, with real issues that require serious attention. But we misdiagnose the problems, and their remedies, if we read the Canadian experience through the lens of the European debate.

110 citations

Performance
Metrics
No. of papers from the Journal in previous years
YearPapers
20236
202217
20211
201819
201725
201622