Active now: public policy legitimacy and the emergence of Idle No More

Abstract

Despite vast research on both policy reform and social movement emergence, their relationship is relatively understudied. This thesis helps to address this gap by using qualitative methodology to explore the relationship between a Canadian omnibus budget bill (Bill C-45) and the emergence of Idle No More movement (INM). Following Snow and Soule’s model of social movement emergence, Bill C-45 is identified as INM’s ‘mobilizing grievance’. In order to explain why, Bill C-45 is assessed against Wallner’s framework of policy legitimacy. Bill C-45—specifically its amendments to the Navigable Waters Protection Act and the Indian Act—is shown to lack substantive and procedural legitimacy. This legitimacy deficit provides an explanation for why the founders of INM deemed Bill C-45 serious enough to require grassroots mobilization. This thesis thus contributes to both public policy and social movement literature by explaining how INM’s emergence was the direct result of the questionable legitimacy of policy reforms.