Reimagining Canadian Citizenship in Newcomer Serving Sector: From White Civility to Land Stewardship

Drawing on reflections from a community action research project on Indigenous-refugee relations in the context of settler Canada, this paper critiques the current script of Canadian citizenship that shapes the newcomer-serving sector. We call for a discursive shift of Canadian citizenship, from the one that is built on white civility, to the one that is centred on land stewardship. We highlight a personal story of migration, immigranthood, and work with newcomer communities and argue that when the script of citizenship operates within racial and colonial politics, it invisiblizes racism, settler colonialism, and global geopolitics of migration and evokes a sense of disconnection and placelessness. We draw on the teachings of the Hodinohso:ni Thanksgiving Address from Cayuga Elder Gae Ho Hwako Norma Jacobs and theorization of landed citizenship by Annishinaabe legal scholar John Borrows and discuss the transformational potentials of land-centred citizenship for the newcomer-serving sector, specifically regarding Citizenship Test preparation, Official Language Education, and Community Connection Program. We suggest that when newcomers are equipped with land-centred knowledge and experiences in their integration process, they are more likely to foster a sense of belongingness that honours Indigenous history, presence, and sovereignty, which ultimately contributes to meaningful truth and reconciliation work.