Pierre Trudeau despised ethnic nationalism. He was contemptuous of its expression in Quebec’s separatist movement. And when the indigenous political leaders of his time demanded racially-segregated self-government, as prime minister he told them Canada would not let them have it without a serious – and perhaps bloody – fight. His son, current Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, holds very different views. His government is promising “nation-to-nation” negotiations to formalize race-based “First Nations” self-government, in most cases with tiny communities lacking lacking anything close to economic self reliance.
Political sovereignty combined with economic dependency is as good a definition as any of neo-colonialism.
On this issue, one you can read below the paywall, distinguished journalist and editorial writer Robert MacBain writes that the apple has fallen a long way from the tree.
Though the following piece was originally published by a leading journal in 2017, it rings even truer today than it did then.
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