Turpel-Lafond returns honorary degree granted by Simon Fraser University in B.C. | 24CA News
Officials at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, B.C., have accepted the return of an honorary diploma awarded to Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond, the previous choose and regulation professor whose claims of Indigenous ancestry have been discredited.
An announcement from SFU president Joy Johnson says Turpel-Lafond opted to return the 2016 award after the college instructed her it was beneath assessment.
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Johnson says the college had obtained requests to assessment the diploma in relation to “the importance of Indigenous identity and alleged false claims of Indigenous ancestry,” and its senate committee on college honours had determined to proceed.
She says the college gave Turpel-Lafond a chance to both relinquish the diploma or “make representations on the issues at hand,” and she or he selected to return it.
A letter from the group Indigenous Women’s Collective signed by retired Cree Senator Lillian Dyck, amongst others, says the college’s determination allowed Turpel-Lafond to evade sanctions for what it describes as “falsely parading as an abused Indigenous woman who overcame enormous odds.”
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Turpel-Lafond has already returned honorary levels from Brock University and two Vancouver Island colleges after they initiated critiques in response to issues raised about her claims of Indigenous ancestry, whereas McGill University, Carleton University and the University of Regina have every rescinded awards granted to her.
The former B.C. consultant for youngsters and youth has stated she is Cree on her father’s facet, and instructed The Canadian Press earlier this month that she’s glad in her previous work, id and self-worth, and it’s “liberating” to be freed of honours as a result of it permits her to “focus on what really matters” in her life.
The Indigenous Women’s Collective says Simon Fraser’s acceptance of the diploma’s return with out finishing its assessment of Turpel-Lafond’s claims sends a message that there is no such thing as a justice for Indigenous individuals when somebody steals from them.
“Indigenous identity fraud is colonial violence against Indigenous people and a slap on the wrist will do little to stop it from continuing to happen,” the letter says.
Johnson’s assertion launched Thursday says Simon Fraser University acknowledges “the need to do more to better protect Indigenous students, staff and faculty … from the impacts of fraudulent claims to Indigenous identity.”
A course of is “well underway” to develop a process to find out Indigenous id and guarantee any advantages meant for Indigenous group members go to Indigenous individuals, she says, with suggestions anticipated later this 12 months.
Turpel-Lafond was additionally appointed to the Order of Canada in 2021.
She beforehand instructed the CBC that whereas she was rising up she didn’t query the organic parentage of her father, who she has stated was Cree.
© 2023 The Canadian Press
