However, the spokesman did not give the reasons for his departure unable to provide this information for privacy reasons.

In October, the lawyer was the subject of a lawsuit in order to CBC question his Aboriginal origins. For decades, Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond claimed Cree ancestry. CBC however, found no evidence for these claims, while the documents rather indicate that she would be of European origin.

CBC also reported that she had made inaccurate public statements about her academic achievements.

In a statement to the newspaper globe and mailon October 12, 2022, theUBC had pledged his public support for his teacher and praised her work as director of the Center for Dialogue and History of Aboriginal Boarding Schools, a position she resigned in June.

The university then asserted that it did not hire Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond because of her Aboriginal roots.

Aboriginal identity was not a criterion […] His identity is his own and the university will not comment on it.‘ said a spokesman.

After the fall, a group called the Indigenous Women’s Collective released a statement saying they were Deeply disturbed that Indigenous professionals, politicians and rectors have been so quick to publicly defend someone claiming to be Indigenous despite the lack of verifiable evidence to support this.

The group also asked 11 Canadian universities are stripping them of honorary doctorates that they had given him. All of these institutions state that they examine the application and take it seriously.

CBC sent a request to Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond for comment, but she had not responded at the time of publication.

With information from Geoff Leo