Colonialism, capitalism and Canada – springmag.ca

June 1, 2026

Tyler A. Shipley’s book Canada in the World: Settler Capitalism and the Colonial Imagination is an incredibly useful history. It compiles a list of Canada’s crimes, giving reason to those of us who have always felt a bit icky when asked to celebrate Canada’s legacy or indulge in any manner of patriotism or Canadian nationalism.

The book fittingly starts with a quote from a Canadian Curriculum document: “When the European settlers arrived, they needed land to live on. The First Nations peoples agreed to move to different areas to make room for the new settlements.” This is perfect because Shipley’s goal is to smash the sanitized version of Canadian history with a massive dose of colonial reality. He does this very well, taking us on a tour that starts with colonial conquest and the expropriation of Indigenous lands, through Canadian foreign policy around the world, the dark secrets of Canada’s “peacekeeping” legacy and back home again to the rise of a fascist domestic politics.

Read More: https://springmag.ca/colonialism-capitalism-and-canada