The majority of Canadians see the legacy of colonialism as an ongoing problem, according to a new survey from the non-profit Angus Reid Institute (ARI).
It polled 3,016 Canadian adults, all members of the Angus Reid Forum, and found that 19 per cent see the legacy of colonialism as “a huge problem to be dealt with,” while 35 per cent see it as “a problem among many others” faced by Indigenous people in the country. That works out to a majority of 54 per cent.
On the other side, 40 per cent of respondents said they saw the legacy of colonialism as “less of an issue.”
The survey also found that, among Indigenous people exclusively, 61 per cent see the legacy of colonialism as a problem, while 34 disagreed.
Norman Yakeleya, former Dene national chief and MLA, shared his thoughts on this issue. He said the tides of colonialism are slowly washing away over the years.
“Once our nation was clear to us, since the invasion of the world’s first explorers, we as Indigenous peoples have been subjected to a new way of life. History’s lessons are lessons learned from our oral tradition of Native perspectives told to the people. We were not a written culture,” he said.
“Reconciliation is happening across Canada. For example, the devastating impacts of the Indian Act, which is still alive and well today. The medicine to this ill-conceived policy is the self-government act,” Yakeleya continued. “There are many other measures we can list that points to co-existence such as the land claims agreements. We as Indigenous peoples must craft a path for our young people, give them hope.”
He said Indigenous peoples in the country are “inching” towards their rightful place, as outlined the Canadian Constitution Act under section 35, which affirms Aboriginal and treaty rights.
However, Canadians are still bearing witness to the unjust treatment of it own “original peoples,” such as the realities of the unmarked graves at former residential schools, “hidden under the name” of Christianity and colonialism, Yakeleya contended.
”Canada is changing slowly. We (have) patience as the country we survived on is good as we know it from our ancestors,” he added.
The ARI survey also explored Canadians’ views on several other issues, including the idea that Indigenous Peoples should have unique status due to their presence here before the arrival of colonizers.
Fifty-five per cent of those surveyed held that Indigenous peoples deserve special status. Of that 55 per cent, 74 per cent were young women, 65 per cent were university educated, and most voted for the Liberals (64 per cent) or New Democrats (75 per cent) in the last federal election.
Conversely, 45 per cent of respondents said that Indigenous peoples in Canada should have no special status. 59 per cent of those respondents were older men, and 68 per cent voted Conservative in 2021.
Among Indigenous respondents exclusively, 62 per cent said that special status is warranted.
“Women and younger Canadians are much more likely to believe the ramifications of colonialism are a modern problem,” the survey concluded. “Meanwhile, half of men older than 34 believe the legacy of colonialism is not an issue today.
“For many, the ripple effects of colonialism are still being felt, or at the very least, more subtly embodied by people in the country. Still others feel that if there is, indeed, a legacy of colonialism in Canada, there are as many things to celebrate from it as there are to repudiate. For many Canadians, awareness of Indigenous issues is simply non-existent.”
The survey is part of a wide-ranging ARI study nicknamed Canada and the Culture Wars, which aims to explore views on the legacy of colonialism.
The ARI was founded in 2014 by Dr. Angus Reid, a pollster and sociologist.
According to the organization’s official website, it is “a national, not-for-profit, non-partisan public opinion research foundation established to advance education by commissioning, conducting and disseminating to the public accessible and impartial statistical data, research and policy analysis on economics, political science, philanthropy, public administration, domestic and international affairs and other socio-economic issues of importance to Canada and its world.”
-with files from Kira Wronska Dorward