Truth, reconciliation and restitution

A focus on the summary report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada released last week. The Commission's conclusion was stark: Canada committed cultural genocide on Indigenous peoples. My first guest is Indigenous scholar Vanessa Watts-Powless. Vanessa is Mohawk and Anishnaabe and teaches in Indigenous Studies at McMaster University. With Hayden King, she penned an important article in the Globe and Mail calling for action on restitution in the wake of the TRC report. The meaning of restitution was the topic of our conversation. As my second guest, I'm happy to finally have the chance to talk with Greg Albo, who teaches political economy at York University and is the co-editor of the Socialist Register. I spoke with Greg to get a sense of how the arguments for restitution made by Vanessa fit into the context of Canada's political economy.