Take Me as I Am: Identity and Indigenous Candidates in the 2021 Canadian Election

Notions of the ideal politician as a white, heterosexual man are deeply entrenched in Canadian politics. Racialized politicians are thus careful about discussing their race or race-related issues in their campaign communications to avoid negative media and voter assessments (Lalancette et al. 2023; Wagner et al., 2023). But the rise of Indigenous nationalism in the late 1960s and subsequent movements such as Idle No More raises questions about whether Indigenous candidates are equally reluctant to discuss identity on the campaign trail. Identity has long been central to Indigenous activism, with considerable efforts placed on cultural and linguistic resurgence. A growing number of Indigenous candidates are also seeking federal office, yet little is known about the political communication strategies of these candidates. This paper addresses this gap by asking the following question: How and why do Indigenous candidates deploy identity in their campaign communications? To answer this question, we conducted a discourse analysis of the Twitter and Instagram accounts of select Indigenous candidates during the 2021 Canadian election. We also draw upon interviews with six Indigenous candidates about their communication strategies. Preliminary findings indicate that Indigenous candidates avidly deployed Indigenous imagery, issues, and languages when addressing voters on social media. This behaviour is in contrast to other minority politicians in Canada, who tend to downplay their racial identities on Twitter and in online biographies. An analysis of the interview data is expected to determine why Indigenous candidates feel more comfortable in highlighting their identity during the campaign.