A controversial Thompson Rivers University honorary degree recipient has relinquished her honorary doctor of laws amid claims she made fraudulent assertions of Cree ancestry.
A TRU spokesperson said the university was recently notified by Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond that she has voluntarily relinquished the honorary doctorate she received from the university in 2009.
TRU began a review of Turpel-Lafond’s honorary doctorate earlier this year, undertaking the process of considering whether it should be rescinded in accordance with internal protocols outlined in the honorary degree policy.
The review began after the tenured professor at UBC’s Allard School of Law and former judge retired from her position when her Cree ancestry was called into question.
Turpel-Lafond has since returned or had several honorary degrees revoked from universities across Canada, including St. Thomas University, Simon Fraser University, the University of Regina, Royal Roads University, and Vancouver Island University.
“TRU acknowledges the importance of Indigenous identity and the need for the university to do more to protect First Nations, Métis, and Inuit students, staff, and faculty from the impacts of any fraudulent identity claims,” TRU said in a statement.
“As well as to ensure benefits intended for Indigenous members go to Indigenous persons.”
The university is currently working with Secwépemc scholars, elders and knowledge keepers to create protocols that assess Indigenous Identity.
“The university is committed to learning from and working in partnership with First Nations, Métis, and Inuit leaders and communities,” the TRU statement said.
