79 © The Author(s) 2020 M. Tremblay, J. Everitt (eds.), The Palgrave Handbook of Gender, Sexuality, and Canadian Politics, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-49240-3_5 CHAPTER 5 Gender, Sexuality, and Nationalism in Canada: A Critical Reading Sevan Beukian INTRODUCTION In thinking about nationalism as a modern phenomenon, it is necessary to consider the ways in which nationalism, colonialism, modernisation, and patri- archy functioned together—a project of orientalism and modernity (Said 1994, [1978] 2003; Quijano 2007; Maillé 2007; Dabashi 2012). In these works, concepts of modernity, with a focus on industrialisation, technical development and a rejection of traditional values, and colonialism, are rendered as com- pleted through the narratives of European knowledge and notions of progress. They are supported by the notion of terra nullius, the presumption that no one owned the land prior to European assertion of sovereignty (Simpson 2014; Altamirano-Jiménez 2013) as propagated in John Locke’s political theory. In the same way, these modes of knowledge and power orientalise the “other” by creating a “self” perceived as superior (Said [1978] 2003). If this “other” is not (forcefully) incorporated in the “citizenship” project (Alfred 2005; Coulthard 2007, 2014) it is eliminated and rendered outside humanity, out- side modernity—not deserving of human rights (Altamirano-Jiménez 2011) or the same rights as citizens. Settler colonialism is not just a project of elimination and genocide but is one that is gendered and sexualised (Razack et al. 2010: 2; Carter 2008; Simpson 2014, 2016; Gaucher 2018). In addition, colonialism segregates, ori- entalises, and racialises as “other” Indigenous peoples and people of colour. S. Beukian (*) Department of Political Science, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada e-mail: beurkibe@ualberta.ca