Canada and Colonization: The Essential History

A historical perspective for understanding how colonialism in Canada differs from other colonized countries, and how these differences affect decolonization.

Colonialism endures in Canada today, and 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 Anglo-Canadian support for colonial rule is why colonialism remains deeply entrenched in Canadian law and society today.

Jim Reynolds presents a 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, Reynolds provides a vital understanding of the historical underpinnings and contemporary challenges the nation must address to reconcile with Indigenous peoples and move toward decolonization.

Jim Reynolds spent over four decades serving as legal counsel to Indigenous nations in Canada, including thirteen years as general counsel for the Musqueam Band. Now retired from active practice, he writes on colonialism and Aboriginal law in Canada.