Interrogating Power, Inclusion, and the Limits of Canadian Exceptionality
Dispatch by Lucie Altmannová
Lucie Altmannová is a PhD candidate at the Department of English and American Studies at Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic. Her research focuses on Indigenous studies and literatures and feminist criticism.
The What Is Happening in Canada? webinar series foregrounded critical engagement within Canadian Studies by addressing issues often marginalized in dominant narratives about Canada or obscured by the country’s international reputation. For many scholars based in Europe, myself included, Canada is frequently imagined in contrast to the United States: a nation perceived as having successfully reckoned with colonialism, racism, exclusionary immigration regimes, and environmentally harmful policies, and as one that continues to move toward a more just future. Closer engagement with critical Canadian studies, however, reveals that these narratives of Canadian exceptionality require sustained interrogation.
The series raised fundamental questions about the power structures operating in Canada – politically, economically, environmentally, and culturally – and the interests they serve.
"Whose voices, bodies, and labour are recognized, within Canada's national story, and what futures are made possible, or foreclosed, for those deemed less valuable?" - Lucie Altmannová
These questions are particularly visible in debates surrounding democratic leadership, a theme addressed in the opening seminar by Dr. Cristine de Clercy. Challenging the assumption that Canadian democracy is self-sustaining, she argued that democratic leadership is relational and dependent on active public engagement. A key concern is Canada’s lack of sustained investment in democratic infrastructure, particularly in initiatives that support citizens’ understanding of their role within the democratic process. This gap is especially significant in an era shaped by foreign interference, artificial intelligence, and political extremism.
From an Indigenous studies perspective, this argument opens an important line of inquiry. Concepts such as “democratic education” and “civic participation” are often framed as universal goods, yet they are grounded in settler-colonial systems that can exclude Indigenous governance traditions. Indigenous peoples have long engaged in political life through diverse forms of governance and resistance, yet the perceived “lack of participation” is produced through colonial structures that limit Indigenous political self-determination.
Questions of power and sovereignty also shape Canada’s climate policy, as explored in Dr. Debora L. VanNijnatten’s seminar. Canada’s approach remains closely tied to that of the United States, particularly following shifts in U.S. climate commitments, while potential alignment with the European Union introduces new possibilities. However, these discussions often fail to adequately address the limited role afforded to Indigenous communities in climate governance.
Climate policy debates, frequently framed in terms of economic feasibility and national interest, remain embedded within settler-colonial authority structures. These frameworks marginalize Indigenous governance and prioritize national economic well-being over Indigenous sovereignty. As a result, climate policy, like democratic leadership, is shaped by uneven power relations that determine whose voices are recognized and whose futures are protected.
Dr. Claudine Bonner’s seminar on labour migration further underscored the persistence of inequality within Canada’s political economy. Canada’s economic stability continues to depend on the racialized and undervalued labour of migrant workers, while democratic inclusion and economic security remain unevenly distributed. Migrant workers’ designation as “temporary” effectively excludes them from meaningful political participation, removing their voices from democratic processes.
As Dr. Bonner emphasized, the status and treatment of migrant workers have changed remarkably little over time. This continuity challenges dominant narratives of national progress and raises a fundamental question: who is included in “the people” within the Canadian political imaginary? Canada’s settler-colonial political economy continues to rely on racialized, deportable labour on Indigenous land, publicly denouncing exploitative labour systems while simultaneously benefiting from their reproduction.
Taken together, the webinar series reveals a consistent pattern: across democratic leadership, climate governance, and labour migration, power in Canada remains unevenly distributed, and inclusion is conditional. Whether through underinvestment in democratic infrastructure, climate policies shaped by settler-colonial authority, or labour regimes reliant on precarious workers, the future promised by narratives of Canadian progress is not equally accessible to all.
Approached through an Indigenous studies lens, these dynamics highlight how settler-colonial structures continue to determine whose voices are heard, whose labour is valued, and whose sovereignty is recognized. The series underscores the importance of Canadian Studies as a critical field committed to exposing structural injustice. Moving forward, these insights call for sustained engagement with questions of accountability, land, labour, and political participation – both within academic work and in the everyday practices that shape how Canada’s futures are imagined and enacted.