Authoritarian Populism and Canada’s Conservative Decade (2006–2015) in Citizenship and Immigration: The Politics and Practices ofKenneyismandNeo-conservative Multiculturalism

Abstract

Focused on the politics and policies of citizenship, immigration, and multiculturalism in Canada, this article employs the concepts of Kenneyism (Kenney-ism, named after Jason Kenney, Canada’s prominent former minister of citizenship, immigration, and multiculturalism) and neo-conservative multiculturalism to reconcile the Conservative Party of Canada’s long-term outreach efforts aiming to incorporate many new, ethnicized, and racialized Canadians into a “minimum winning coalition” with the exclusionary policies and creative discourses the party espoused and implemented during its time in office, 2006–2015. As forms of politics that Stuart Hall termed authoritarian populism, the emphasis on the “authoritarian” dimension of conservative populism foregrounds the often anti-democratic nature of the project both symbolically and substantively. This article outlines the roots of Kenneyism and neo-conservative multiculturalism within a discussion of the party’s evolution from its Reform and Alliance Party predecessors. It discusses five key characteristics and trends of the party’s political and governmental approach that demonstrate both their creative outreach and forms of disciplinary politics and social exclusion—particularly but not only with respect to Muslims, refugees, and temporary foreign workers. It concludes with reflections on the party’s record and the future of Kenneyism as a form of politics after the party’s 2015 electoral defeat and 2017 leadership contest.