Elbows up, maple leaf flags, a stadium full of people rising for the anthem—Riley Yesno stayed seated, and asks whether this new wave of Canadian nationalism is really the belonging we're looking for.
Riley Yesno is a scholar, writer, and Indigenous Politics Expert at the University of Toronto and The Yellowhead Institute. Drawing on her own experience as the granddaughter of residential school survivors, she questions whether rising Canadian nationalism is a genuine source of belonging or a reactive response to fear, and argues that real safety comes from community, not the nation-state. This special episode of The Conversation Piece features content from The Walrus Talks: Power and Belonging, supported by The Belonging Forum.
Yesno spoke at The Walrus Talks: Power and Belonging in April 2026.
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