Why is it common knowledge that we saved runaway slaves from the United States, but few know that Africans and Indigenous peoples were bought, sold and exploited, right here?

In this two-part radio documentary for CBC, I examine the history of slavery in colonial Canada, its lasting legacy and the ways in which it has been whitewashed from our history. 

Slavery is Canada’s best-kept secret

Canada has burnished its reputation as the Railroad’s central station, the saviour of runaway slaves. Generations of Canadians have grown up with the idea that slavery somehow stopped at the American border.

As we hear, a surprised former prime minister never knew it happened here.

Another former PM said famously that Canada has “no history of colonialism.”

As historian Afua Cooper says, slavery is Canada’s best-kept secret. 

The slaves themselves were silenced. They worked so hard that they died at 20 years old or so. If ever they had time to collect their thoughts, they could scarcely record them for posterity. Masters often prohibited them from speaking their own languages. They stripped them of their original African and Indigenous names, and assigned French and English names, effectively wiping out their identity. 

Now a small but growing number of scholars is unearthing court records, local registries and a host of archives to get a glimpse into the less luminous chambers of our past. 

Listen to the first of two hours on CBC Ideas…and here’s Part 2.