The Ugly Truth to Canada’s Big Lie: A Tale of Ongoing Settler Colonial Genocide of Canada’s Indigenous Peoples and the Creation of an Apartheid State

Abstract

ABSTRACT Drawing heavily on Indigenous authors, this paper explores the historical roots to the emergence of Canada as a genocidal and apartheid state with respect to its Indigenous peoples. A major theme of the paper is that historical injustices grounded in settler colonial priorities continue to inform contemporary socio/political contexts that maintain Canada’s status as a racist, apartheid and genocidal state with respect to Indigenous peoples. Examples drawn from the Lytton fire of 2020 and the November floods in British Columbia highlight that the needs and rights of Indigenous peoples will always take a back seat to Canada’s corporate economic interests. A corollary to the paper constitutes the dismantling of Canada’s “Big Lie” that Canada is a progressive country that has shown considerable progress in its relationship with Indigenous peoples.