Calls to Action for Newcomers to Canada and the Violence of Citizenship Education - YELLOWHEAD BRIEF #137 - SEP 26, 2023

Sep 18, 2026

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Lucy El-Sherif examines Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission Calls to Action 93 and 94, arguing that citizenship education for newcomers remains seriously flawed. The paper critiques an outdated citizenship test and study guide, highlighting misinformation about Indigenous history, treaties, and residential schools. It also questions the revised Oath of Citizenship, stressing how allegiance and treaty recognition can still reflect colonial priorities. The document analyzes how settler narratives normalize dispossession and genocide, urging meaningful reform.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryReligion & Spirituality

FormatPDF

Pages4

Reading Time10 min

AccessFree to download

Calls to Action for Newcomers to Canada and the Violence of Citizenship Education

The “Progress” of Call to Action 94—The Oath of Citizenship

Studying Settler Stories of Canada

Erasing Genocide

Normalizing Colonial Plunder

YELLOWHEAD BRIEF \#137 | SEP 26, 2023 Calls to Action for Newcomers to Canada and the Violence of Citizenship Education by Lucy El-Sherif | THE TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION COMMISSION OF CANADA
concluded its work in 2015 with their Final Report and 94 Calls to Action. Many of these Calls focus on educating Canadians about the residential school system and its ongoing legacy. Unfortunately, most remain unaddressed by Canada, including one rarely discussed in the public discourse meant to educate new Canadians—Call to Action 93:
“We call upon the federal government, in collaboration
with the national Aboriginal organizations, to revise the information kit for newcomers to Canada and its citizenship test to reflect a more inclusive history of the diverse Aboriginal peoples of Canada, including information about the Treaties and the history of residential schools.”
The Canadian citizenship test and accompanying study guide, Discover Canada: The Rights and Responsibilities of Citizenship, remains violently obsolete. Meanwhile, since the Calls were made, 1.3 million people have become naturalized Canadian citizens based on an outdated education. Outdated is an understatement: The Citizenship education program revolves around a racist history, archaic notions of Indigenous peoples, and descriptions of colonial relations that reproduce settler harm.
While significant changes to the study guide have been in the works for years, the delay is costly, measured in gross misinformation.¹ | The “Progress”of Call to Action 94—The Oath of Citizenship
While Call to Action 93 is incomplete, 94 has seen some movement. To the casual observer, a new Indigenous supplement in the Oath of Citizenship—as the TRC called for—may seem an improvement. But context is required here: After pledging allegiance to the Monarch, new Canadians now also commit to upholding Indigenous treaties by virtue of the fact that the constitution recognizes and affirms Indigenous rights. (Notably, the bill that legislated this, Bill C-8, was only accelerated in 2021 after the discovery of unmarked gravesites on the grounds ofa Kelowna residential school, children killed by residential schools’ abuse and neglect. It was a discovery that demanded action) .
This order of allegiance in the Oath seems like a familiar pattern of Indigenous rights subsumed by colonial interests. It seems similar to the many school boards that now include a land acknowledgement, then move on to business as usual with O Canada—or in how Prime Minister Trudeau tears up discussing Indigenous relations and then proceeds to ignore Indigenous rights and pushes for pipelines to be built without full Indigenous consent. Similarly, the revised Oath for new Canadians still
rests on respecting the monarchy as the final arbiter of Canadian relations. Call to Action 94 ensures that arriving immigrants are still part ofa colonial project that continues to dispossess Indigenous peoples from their land. | | --- | --- | Yellowhead Institute generates critical Indigenous [policy perspectives. www.yellowheadinstitute.org](policy perspectives. www.yellowheadinstitute.org) The progress (or lack thereof ) on the “Newcomer” Calls to Action must be interpreted through this lens. Studying Settler Stories of Canada Returning to Call to Action 93 and the necessity of change here requires exploring what currently exists. What are new Canadians learning about Canada? Erasing Genocide Canada emerged because early settlers encountered a world where land is described as a site for colonization, and battles for land sovereignty were between the British and the French. Together, these two warring factions spent the 18th century fighting over land, which was lost, won, and consolidated. Throughout, there is a settler narrative of colonial “explorers” as modern, forward-thinking builders of nations and civilization, contrasted with Indigenous people who related naively to the land. The guide assert

FAQs

What does Call to Action 93 require regarding newcomer materials?

It calls on the federal government to revise the information kit for newcomers and the citizenship test to include a more inclusive history of diverse Aboriginal peoples, including treaties and residential school history.

Why does the document criticize the revised Oath of Citizenship under Call to Action 94?

It argues that even with treaty recognition, the order and framing of allegiance still places Indigenous rights within a colonial project and keeps the monarchy as the final arbiter of Canadian relations.

How does the study guide portray Indigenous people and responsibility for atrocities?

The document claims the guide uses passive voice and selective imagery to obscure perpetrators and normalize genocide, while framing colonial narratives as modern nation-building and presenting treaty violations as only partially respected.

Sep 18, 2026

Upload by Blaney