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Canadian Political Science Association2025 Annual Conference Programme
The Politics of Belonging: Conflict,
Community, Curriculum
Hosted at George Brown College, Toronto, CANADA
June 3 to June 5, 20252025 Annual Conference Programme
The Politics of Belonging: Conflict,
Community, Curriculum
Hosted at George Brown College
June 3 to June 5, 2025
Special Events
R11(a) - CPSA Reconciliation Committee Event - Footsteps of Indigenous Women: Engagement and Participation in Canadian Government and Electoral Politics
Date: Jun 4 | Time: 10:15am to 11:45am | Location: SJA-615
Chair/Président/Présidente : Rebecca Major (Yukon University)
Discussant/Commentateur/Commentatrice : Danette Starblanket (JSGS University of Saskatchewan, Regina Campus)
Georgina Jolibois (formally elected)Mary Ann Morin (formally elected)
Colleen Mayer (formally elected)
Hanan Zahrah (University of Windsor)
Dawn Trudell (University of Windsor)
Abstract: The 2015 federal election marked a significant advancement, characterized by a record number of Indigenous candidates and a notable increase in those elected. Nearly half of the Indigenous candidates were women. The Canadian Federal elections of 2019 and 2021 sparked important discussions regarding Indigenous participation both as electoral candidates and in broader non-Indigenous political arenas—questions that cannot be addressed by any one individual alone. Institutional barriers, including discriminatory laws impacting women, conveyed powerful messages that Indigenous women were not welcome in certain political environments, ultimately shaping a unique pathway for their entry into politics. While some may attribute the rise in Indigenous women candidates during the 2019 and 2021 elections to a more inclusive atmosphere fostered by Reconciliation discourse, this perspective overlooks the foundational efforts of Indigenous women in earlier years. Scholars have undertaken the study of why Indigenous women chose to pursue electoral politics or to engage with colonial governance structures. Through funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Insight Development Grant, interviews with Indigenous women addressed several questions raised by the media during the previous federal election. This roundtable aims to convene participants of the interviews and project to share their political experiences, emphasizing the perspectives of those who have navigated spaces historically designed to exclude Indigenous women.