Canada and Colonialism : An Unfinished History

Jim Reynolds spent over four decades serving as legal counsel to Aboriginal people in Canada, including thirteen years as general counsel for the Musqueam Band.

Colonialism endures in Canada today. Dismantling it requires an understanding of how colonialism operated across the British Empire and why Canada’s colonial experience was unique.

While colonies like India were ruled through despotism and violence, Canada’s white settler population governed itself while oppressing the Indigenous peoples whose lands they were on. Canada and Colonialism shows how this settler self-governance, including Anglo-Canadians participation in colonial rule, is why colonialism remains entrenched in Canadian law and society today.

Author Jim Reynolds presents a truly compelling account of Canada’s colonial coming of age and its impacts on Indigenous peoples, including the settler-led internal colonialism behind the Indian Act and those who enforced it.

As one of the nation’s leading experts in Aboriginal law, Jim Reynolds provides a vital accounting of the historical underpinnings and contemporary challenges the nation must address to reconcile with Indigenous peoples and move toward decolonization.

Review:
Jim Reynolds makes a significant, original contribution to our understanding of contemporary Canada by situating its colonization within the broader British imperial project. Canada and Colonialism should be read by anyone seeking a deeper understand of the Crown’s historical and ongoing relationship with Indigenous peoples.

- Kent McNeil, emeritus professor, Osgoode Hall Law School, Toronto

This book contains 40 b&w illustrations.