On September 30, Canadians observe National Day for Truth and Reconciliation and Orange Shirt Day – Every Child Matters, to recognize the history and ongoing legacy of residential schools, honour Survivors and the children who never returned home. The day provides an opportunity to learn, reflect, consider our responsibilities and take action toward reconciliation.
To honour this day, Prairie Food System Vision Network is convening Confronting Settler Colonialism: A Critical Dialogue, an opportunity to deepen our understanding of Canada’s colonial past and present and consider what decolonization and reconciliation can mean in practice as we work toward ‘people of the Prairie Region living together in right relationship with the land and one another, securing sufficient, culturally appropriate, healthy, and regenerative food systems for generations to come’.
Session Description:
On Settler Colonialism in Canada: Relations and Resistances (UR Press, 2026) is one of two volumes in an anthology series that critically analyzes the current state of settler colonialism. This series recognizes that Canada is a result of genocide against Indigenous Peoples. It connects Canada's historical context with contemporary issues, examining problems such as the dispossession of Indigenous lands, cultures, and languages, as well as settler violence, racism, and other ongoing legacies of colonialism.
We invite you to join Emily Grafton, Vanda Fleury and Jérôme Melançon, chapter contributors, for a discussion about how the settler colonial present shapes Canadian society and its relationships with Indigenous Peoples and racialized minorities. The authors will discuss the significance of understanding Canada's colonial framework while advocating for the implementation of decolonial and reconciliatory practices.
To register click here.
Speaker Bios:
Emily Grafton holds a PhD in Native Studies from the University of Manitoba (Winnipeg) and specializes in decolonial politics and research. As a descendant of a Métis family that received a Halfbreed land allotment in St. François Xavier, Manitoba, the politics of settler-based dispossession have been included in both her family life and scholarship. Currently, Grafton is an associate professor of political and international studies at the University of Regina, where she teaches courses on Indigenous rights, reconciliation, feminism and gender politics, international relations, and Canadian politics. Her research is community-driven and she collaborates with local non-profits in Regina. She is the author of Divided Power: How Federalism Undermines Reconciliation (Fernwood Publishing, 2025) and co-editor of the book series, On Colonialism in Canada (UR Press, 2025; 2026). Additionally, she serves as a member of the Board and Reconciliation Committee of the Canadian Political Science Association.
Vanda Fleury (Red River Métis) is a film and photovoice artist based in Winnipeg, Manitoba and it is through writing and creative production that she locates her voice and expresses her individuality. She weaves storywork with memories, land-based narratives, cultural knowledge, and documentary heritage. Vanda’s children and the stories of her ancestors are enduring sources of motivation. As a graduate student in Political Science at the University of Northern British Columbia, her research interests focus on Indigenous feminist interventions on health and wellness. Her work engages with intersectional theory and praxis, photovoice methodology and decolonization.
Jérôme Melançon is a settler scholar who lives in oskana kâ-asastêki/Regina, where he is department head for the Department of Philosophy and Classics at the University of Regina. He specializes in political philosophy and has published on the work of existentialist philosophers as well as on the politics and governance of French-speaking communities in Canada. His current research focuses on settler colonialism and relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people, specifically on the Indian Residential School system. He is also a poet and a translator.