While campaigning for the 2020 Conservative Party of Canada leadership election, the slogan “Take Back Canada” became popular with the newly elected leader, Erin O’Toole. Now, a youth environmental activism group is taking legal action to trademark the phrase the group initially coined.
On Sept. 17, Climate Strike Canada filed paperwork under the Canadian Copyright Act to trademark “Take Back Canada,” which would force Conservative party leader Erin O’Toole to stop using the slogan.
The group says it has used the phrase “Land Back” for movements to reclaim Indigenous jurisdiction over land, long before O’Toole’s campaign.
Climate Strike Canada is a coalition made up of Indigenous and non-Indigenous youth.
It was formed in 2019 in response to the rising number of Canadian youths demanding climate justice. The environmental group also advocates for Indigenous land sovereignty.
Cricket Guest is a Métis Anishinaabe land defender and activist who has been involved in various activism groups, including Fridays for Future, Climate Justice Toronto, and Climate Strike Canada.
“When we saw [the slogan], it was very obviously a partner slogan to Donald Trump’s ‘Make America Great Again,’” Guest said. “It seemed to be taking the Indigenous slogan of ‘Land Back’ which was coined by Indigenous youth.”
For Guest, the slogan “Take Back Canada” is rooted in a colonial approach.
“When Erin O’Toole is talking about ‘Take Back Canada,’ he’s obviously not talking about giving the land back and Indigenous sovereignty,” Guest said. “He’s talking about the origins of Canada, which are rooted in Indigenous genocide and slavery.”
O’Toole has received backlash for the use of the ‘Take Back Canada’ slogan from others who argue it is insensitive to the history of Canada’s mistreatment of Indigenous people.
O’Toole defended the phrase on the CBC program The Early Edition, arguing it’s about “taking Canada back” from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Kyrstin Dumont, an Algonquin Anishinaabe woman, is a 20-year-old Indigenous activist in the Ottawa region. She is working with Anita Vandenbeld, MP for Ottawa—West Nepean, to address issues in Indigenous communities.
For Dumont, it is concerning to see the Conservative Party use a term that was created by Indigenous youth.
“A non-Indigenous Conservative Party using this slogan really concerns me because they had
created it to make Indigenous peoples feel more protected and safe on their own land,” Dumont said.
The youth activists with Climate Strike Canada say they want political leaders to pay more attention to the problems that Indigenous people are currently facing in Canada, like the Missing and Murdered Indigenous women, rather than reminisce about the past.
Dumont is also working with the Child Welfare League of Canada and the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board to bring Indigenous youth perspectives to light.
She said she is worried about the future treatment of Indigenous youth if political leaders in Canada continue to disregard the necessary changes needed for Indigenous people in Canada.
“They’re putting a foot on our shoulders to push us down, even further than they already have,” Dumont said.
On June 10, O’Toole posted a campaign video for the conservative leadership election via Twitter highlighting his platform, and promising to fight for all of the “hard working Canadians who build this great country.”
Despite O’Toole’s claim to have all Canadians in mind with his slogan, Indigenous youth activists like Dumont are feeling less confident.
“What are they taking back? They have had this country for 153 years and a lot of Indigenous people see Canada Day as the Genocide Day,” Dumont said.
Featured graphic by Etta Gerrits
