Elena Choquette

My dissertation mobilises the tools of critical political theory to study the processes of land appropriation and cultural homogenisation over lands claimed by Canada in the development of the Canadian state and identity. I examine the justifications for Canadian attempts at incorporating non-Canadian lands and peoples by using the case of the “North-West” (now the Prairie provinces). Adopting James Tully’s critical approach to political philosophy, I scrutinise hundreds of parliamentary and governmental archival documents. These documents reveal that the Canadian state mobilised liberal concepts of peace and progress to justify Canadian territorial and political expansion. I argue that Canada authorised its appropriation of Indigenous lands by claiming that it alone could improve the lands it looked to incorporate. To the extent that Canadian colonial liberalism regarded the Indigenous Peoples of the North-West as requiring the protection and assistance of the Dominion in achieving higher forms of humanity, colonial liberalism also authorised the epistemic violence of their assimilation to emerging settle communities. In short, I show that the Canadian state used colonial liberalism to effect the dispossession and assimilation of Indigenous Peoples necessitated by that its territorial and political development. By bringing into view the violence implicated in Canadian development, this dissertation first challenges the hegemony of the Canadian state and nation as those of a “Peaceable Kingdom”. Secondly, this dissertation uses Canadian political thinking to illuminate the larger liberal tradition. By examining the roots of liberalism in the process of territorial expansion and settlement in Canadian political development, I expose the intimate connection between liberalism and settler colonisation and surface the intrinsically violent potential of liberalism. Finally, this research identifies the potential for exclusion that is built into the liberal tradition and has to be addressed if Canada is to reconcile with the needs and aspirations of Indigenous Peoples. In particular, I argue that the contemporary Canadian liberal regime should redress its exclusionary legacy by supporting land-based practices of Indigenous self-government.

La Confédération canadienne de 1867 a souvent été étudiée et pensée du point de vue des Canadiens français – de leur place dans les négociations jusqu’aux promesses que le nouveau pacte constitutionnel devait tenir pour eux. La théorie du contrat entre les deux peuples fondateurs du pays, Canadiens anglais et Canadiens français, renvoie d’ailleurs à cet évènement constitutionnel d’importance. À l’occasion de son 150e  anniversaire, il importe de se pencher à nouveau sur le projet et les ententes scellées alors dans l’objectif de découvrir une autre ligne de fracture culturelle, plus profonde et pourtant moins visible : celle qui sépare les Autochtones et les non-Autochtones.

This article proposes a historiographical analysis of the franco-quebecois political science on Indigenous peoples. Political science participates in representing social realities of populations that, in the present case, have been historically marginalised. It is thus critical to understand the processes that underlie its production and diffusion. By exploring the political circumstances that impacted the development of research on Indigenous peoples, we conclude that franco-quebecois scholars have built a field of study that is distinct in terms of its volume, tone, and recurring themes. In particular, we suggest that the study of the place of Quebec within Canada shaped and eclipsed that of Indigenous peoples in the province. Finally, we situate the contributions and limits of franco-quebecois political science with respect to Indigenous peoples. In so doing, we uncover some of the most significant dynamics in the development of Canadian political science in this area of study and provide indications for future research in the field. // Cet article propose une analyse historiographique de la science politique franco-québécoise qui porte sur les peuples autochtones. Dans la mesure où la science politique participe à la représentation des réalités sociales de populations qui, dans la situation qui nous occupe, ont été historiquement marginalisées, il importe de comprendre les processus qui sous-tendent sa production et sa diffusion. Au moyen d'une étude de l'impact de la construction de l'identité nationale franco-québécoise sur le développement de la recherche sur les peuples autochtones, nous concluons que les chercheurs franco-québécois ont construit un champ d’études distinct d'autres productions scientifiques autochtonistes — notamment canadienne-anglaise — quant à son volume relatif, son ton et ses thèmes. En particulier, nous proposons que l'importance prise par la question nationale a écarté celle de la relation entre les peuples autochtones et le Québec. Enfin, notre rétrospective situe les contributions et les limites du discours universitaire franco-québécois. Ce faisant, nous relevons certaines des dynamiques les plus significatives dans le développement de la science politique canadienne et nous en dégageons des enseignements pour l'orientation de travaux futurs.