Jean Teillet says that the three main political parties don’t have detailed vetting procedures or none at all
Jean Teillet, a lawyer and great-grandniece of Métis leader Louis Riel, says that the political parties in Manitoba are not doing enough to make sure that candidates’ claims to being Indigenous are true.
CBC News asked all three provincial parties in Manitoba that have a seat in the legislature how they make sure that claims of Indigenous identity are true.
Teillet — who who was appoinTed as an investigator on his ownBy the University of Saskatchewan to figure out how to stop Indigenous identity fraud—was critical of how all three provincial parties answered questions about how they make sure candidates who say they are Indigenous are who they say they are.
Teillet was hired after Carrie Bourassa, a professor at the University of Saskatchewan, was suspended and then resigned after a CBC News investigation found no proof that she had Indigenous ancestry.
Teillet wrote in a report from that investigation that these people were “wannabes” or “pretendians.” “The benefit they get is taken from us, hurts us, and breaks our trust.”
Provincial parties give their answer
All three provincial parties answered the CBC’s February questions about making sure that Indigenous identity claims are valid.
The NDP said, “The Manitoba NDP has a strict process for vetting candidates, and we’re proud of them.” We look at candidates for the NDP in a fair and thorough way.”
The Liberals said, “We do take false appropriation of Indigenous identity seriously, and the Manitoba Liberal Greenlight Committee would see it as a serious breach of ethics.” That committee is a group that checks out candidates.
“Manitoba Liberals don’t have the right to decide who is Indigenous. First Nations and Indigenous organizations decide on their identities. If there are questions about a candidate’s claim to be Indigenous, they would be asked about it in an interview. Still, our party doesn’t ask people to tell us about their culture or sexual orientation.
MLA Ralph Eichler, who heads the nomination committee for the Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba, said at first, “Ethnic background has been a part of the interview process.” When asked for more details, Eichler wrote, “We do not ask anyone what their ethnic background is.”
Eichler then said, “The committee isn’t really interested in our candidates’ races.” More about the person as a person than their race?” In response to a follow-up question, Eichler said that the nominating committee does not independently check whether a candidate says they are Indigenous or not.
Questions of process: Teille
Teillet says that the NDP, which says it has a “robust” process for checking out candidates, didn’t give her enough information to know if its process is good enough when it comes to claims of Indigenous identity.
Teillet said that the PCs and Liberals don’t take the matter seriously, even though the Liberal party says they do. He said that if they did, they would have a way to check the facts.
“By not doing verification, they are tacitly supporting false claims to Indigenous identity. If they don’t do anything, they are supporting the harm that this kind of fake ID causes.”
Teillet says that all political parties, government offices, universities, and schools should have a big sign on their websites that says: “If you are applying and claim Indigenous identity, we will check back. “We will check.”
Teillet says that this doesn’t mean that universities or governments can decide who is Indigenous. They need to make sure that their ways of checking are in line with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), which Canada signed in 2021.
Article 33 of the UNDRIP says, “Indigenous peoples have the right to decide for themselves who they are and where they belong based on their customs and traditions.”
Veldon Coburn, who teaches political science at the University of Ottawa, said that the U.S. And Anishinaabe from Pikwàkanagàn First Nation says that the Liberal and NDP’s answers about how they check out Indigeneity claims are mostly good, but that both parties could be more clear.
Coburn says that the PC Party’s way of checking out candidates seems to be “very quick and loose, almost to the point of being dangerous.”
“It really doesn’t matter to them one way or the other if someone is lying about being Indigenous.” In an interview, Coburn said.
Coburn says that parties need to make sure that people who say they are Indigenous are really who they say they are. “The absolute bare minimum is that we will check if you say you are Indigenous.”
He says that, in his experience, it is common and “not at all offensive to any Indigenous person” to ask about their community ties.
“They’re very proud to tell us where they’re from. “I’d do the same thing,” he said.
Coburn says that being Indigenous is different from being Italian-Canadian or having any other hyphenated identity.
“Unlike many other people in Canada, who are proud to be both Canadian and something else, Indigenous people are a national group, not just another flavor of culture. So we’re not just on a diet, wearing clothes, and dancing, as it may seem. We do have political institutions for people who are part of our own political groups, which makes us citizens..”
Klein is one of two Indigenous MLAs in the PC Caucus. Stefanson is the other
Shortly after Kevin Klein was elected MLA for Kirkfield Park in December, Premier Heather Stefanson said that he was one of two Indigenous PC caucus MLAs, along with Alan Lagimodiere, who represents Selkirk.
“The reason Mr. Klein is considered Indigenous is because he has publicly identified himself as a Canadian Métis,” a spokesperson for Premier Stefanson wrote in response to CBC News’s request for more information about her January comment.
Stefanson said that the PC Party needs to get more Indigenous members and candidates, and he said that they are working on that.
In an interview with CBC News in January, Stefanson said, “I think it’s very important that we accurately reflect what’s going on in our communities, and Indigenous communities play a huge role in that. That’s why we’ll keep reaching out to them.”
In July, a spokesperson for Premier Stefanson wouldn’t say if she still thought Kevin Klein was Indigenous after CBC News said they couldn’t find any proof that he has Métis or Indigenous ancestry.
When Klein was sworn in as environment minister at the end of January, the government sent out a press release with his biography. It said that he is a “proud Métis Canadian” who is still learning about his connections to the Indigenous community by working with Elders in Manitoba. This trip has made him want to work with Indigenous communities even more.
Monday, at a news conference that had nothing to do with Stefanson, reporters asked him questions.
She said, “We don’t try to police people’s identities.” “When it comes to the process of vetting candidates, we know that the NDP allows people with criminal records, as you already know. So, I would also like to know what their plan is in all of this.”
WATCH | When asked about Environment Minister Kevin Klein’s claim to be Métis, Premier Heather Stefanson dodges the question:
When CBC News asked him about the biography the government gave out when he became a cabinet minister, he said, “Like I’ve said before, this is a private and personal journey.”
Klein has told the media in the past that he is Métis from the Painted Feather Woodland Métis, a group that is not recognized by the Manitoba Métis Federation or the Métis Nation of Ontario.
Teillet says that there is a dark side to claims about Indigenous identity.
“Once we can all claim to be Indigenous for any reason, there won’t be any Indigenous people left because we’ll all be Indigenous.” It’s one more step toward getting rid of Indigenous people. “I call it assimilation in reverse,” Teillet said.
Teillet says that people who falsely claim to be Indigenous could say something like, “As an Indigenous person, I know when consultation is right for Indigenous people.”
Teillet says that when this happens, Indigenous people aren’t allowed to have a say in things like making policies about important social issues.