Former judge Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond says she is satisfied in her “past work, identity and self-worth” after the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association stripped her of an award because its board members believed she falsified her claims of Indigenous identity.
In her most expansive recent remarks since a CBC investigation last fall raised questions about her claim of Cree heritage, Turpel-Lafond said it’s “liberating” to be freed of honours because it permits her to “focus on what really matters” in her life.
She has “no emotional attachment to titles, honours or accolades,” she said Thursday by email in response to a request for comment by The Canadian Press.
But Turpel-Lafond said she was surprised the association rescinded the 2020 Reg Robson Award without “basic fairness,” such as allowing her an opportunity to be heard.
“Trial by media is rampant, can be unbalanced and cause harm,” said the former law professor and B.C. representative for children and youth.
“This is precisely how wrongful convictions and injustice happens — take a position based on what someone else suggests while never delving deeper into matters to determine the truth.”
She used an Indigenous name, aki-kwe, in her email signature, as well as her English name.
‘Lack of accountability … shocking’: Board
The B.C. Civil Liberties Association is the latest organization to revoke honours given to Turpel-Lafond. It issued a statement Thursday saying it has rescinded the Reg Robson Award given to her as part of its 2020 Liberty Awards.
Board members believed Turpel-Lafond’s representations about her professional accomplishments and Cree heritage when the association granted the award recognizing substantial contributions to civil liberties in B.C. and Canada, it said.
Indeed, they believed her ancestry “played an essential role in informing her professional roles, her position in the community, and her work to advance human rights on behalf of Indigenous Peoples and advocacy organizations,” it said.
But information came to light demonstrating that, in the board’s view, Turpel-Lafond had falsified that claim, while certain professional and academic accomplishments have also been disproven or called into question, the statement said.
Her professional integrity has been eroded, it said, adding Turpel-Lafond has yet to publicly account for the allegations about her heritage and other claims, including that she was recognized with a Queen’s counsel designation in Saskatchewan.
The revelations about her “purported Indigenous identity and professional claims, as well as her lack of accountability or remorse on these matters, have been shocking and disturbing,” the civil liberties association said in the statement.
Turpel-Lafond’s actions have taken opportunities and recognition away from Indigenous women and played a part in “gravely undermining” public confidence in the legal profession, it said.
In 2009, Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond was given an honorary doctorate from Thompson Rivers University — one of many she received in her career. (Thompson Rivers University/YouTube)
The association must follow the lead of Indigenous scholars, leaders and organizations, including the Indigenous Women’s Collective, which is demanding that all honorary degrees and awards conferred on her be revoked, it said.
McGill University, Carleton University and the University of Regina each rescinded honorary degrees awarded to Turpel-Lafond last month, and she has returned degrees conferred by two B.C. post-secondary institutions after the schools initiated reviews in response to questions and concerns about her claims.
A number of others have confirmed they are looking into honorary degrees awarded to her, including Mount Saint Vincent and St. Thomas universities.
In conferring its own award, the association recognizes it “contributed to amplifying Turpel-Lafond’s claims and position of influence,” the statement said.
Her actions added to a “widespread pattern of Indigenous identity fraud, and the severe harms” it causes, it said.
“Indigenous identity fraud perpetuates colonial violence and assimilation practices, allowing settlers to shape the future for Indigenous communities while marginalizing Indigenous voices and weakening self-determination,” it said.
Turpel-Lafond was also appointed to the Order of Canada in 2021.
Turpel-Lafond previously told the CBC that while she was growing up, she didn’t question the biological parentage of her father, who she has said was Cree.
“He was Cree, spoke Cree and lived the values of a Cree person,” she said in a statement posted to her Twitter account last October. Her father’s non-Indigenous grandparents had adopted her father, “who they knew to be a Cree child,” she said.
She served as British Columbia’s representative for children and youth and, until last December, she was a tenured law professor at the University of B.C.
Until last year, she also served as the academic director of the Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre at the university.
VANCOUVER – Contract negotiations resume today in Vancouver in a labour dispute that has paralyzed container cargo shipping at British Columbia’s ports since Monday.
The BC Maritime Employers Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 are scheduled to meet for the next three days in mediated talks to try to break a deadlock in negotiations.
The union, which represents more than 700 longshore supervisors at ports, including Vancouver, Prince Rupert and Nanaimo, has been without a contract since March last year.
The latest talks come after employers locked out workers in response to what it said was “strike activity” by union members.
The start of the lockout was then followed by several days of no engagement between the two parties, prompting federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon to speak with leaders on both sides, asking them to restart talks.
MacKinnon had said that the talks were “progressing at an insufficient pace, indicating a concerning absence of urgency from the parties involved” — a sentiment echoed by several business groups across Canada.
In a joint letter, more than 100 organizations, including the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Business Council of Canada and associations representing industries from automotive and fertilizer to retail and mining, urged the government to do whatever it takes to end the work stoppage.
“While we acknowledge efforts to continue with mediation, parties have not been able to come to a negotiated agreement,” the letter says. “So, the federal government must take decisive action, using every tool at its disposal to resolve this dispute and limit the damage caused by this disruption.
“We simply cannot afford to once again put Canadian businesses at risk, which in turn puts Canadian livelihoods at risk.”
In the meantime, the union says it has filed a complaint to the Canada Industrial Relations Board against the employers, alleging the association threatened to pull existing conditions out of the last contract in direct contact with its members.
“The BCMEA is trying to undermine the union by attempting to turn members against its democratically elected leadership and bargaining committee — despite the fact that the BCMEA knows full well we received a 96 per cent mandate to take job action if needed,” union president Frank Morena said in a statement.
The employers have responded by calling the complaint “another meritless claim,” adding the final offer to the union that includes a 19.2 per cent wage increase over a four-year term remains on the table.
“The final offer has been on the table for over a week and represents a fair and balanced proposal for employees, and if accepted would end this dispute,” the employers’ statement says. “The offer does not require any concessions from the union.”
The union says the offer does not address the key issue of staffing requirement at the terminals as the port introduces more automation to cargo loading and unloading, which could potentially require fewer workers to operate than older systems.
The Port of Vancouver is the largest in Canada and has seen a number of labour disruptions, including two instances involving the rail and grain storage sectors earlier this year.
A 13-day strike by another group of workers at the port last year resulted in the disruption of a significant amount of shipping and trade.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
The Royal Canadian Legion says a new partnership with e-commerce giant Amazon is helping boost its veterans’ fund, and will hopefully expand its donor base in the digital world.
Since the Oct. 25 launch of its Amazon.ca storefront, the legion says it has received nearly 10,000 orders for poppies.
Online shoppers can order lapel poppies on Amazon in exchange for donations or buy items such as “We Remember” lawn signs, Remembrance Day pins and other accessories, with all proceeds going to the legion’s Poppy Trust Fund for Canadian veterans and their families.
Nujma Bond, the legion’s national spokesperson, said the organization sees this move as keeping up with modern purchasing habits.
“As the world around us evolves we have been looking at different ways to distribute poppies and to make it easier for people to access them,” she said in an interview.
“This is definitely a way to reach a wider number of Canadians of all ages. And certainly younger Canadians are much more active on the web, on social media in general, so we’re also engaging in that way.”
Al Plume, a member of a legion branch in Trenton, Ont., said the online store can also help with outreach to veterans who are far from home.
“For veterans that are overseas and are away, (or) can’t get to a store they can order them online, it’s Amazon.” Plume said.
Plume spent 35 years in the military with the Royal Engineers, and retired eight years ago. He said making sure veterans are looked after is his passion.
“I’ve seen the struggles that our veterans have had with Veterans Affairs … and that’s why I got involved, with making sure that the people get to them and help the veterans with their paperwork.”
But the message about the Amazon storefront didn’t appear to reach all of the legion’s locations, with volunteers at Branch 179 on Vancouver’s Commercial Drive saying they hadn’t heard about the online push.
Holly Paddon, the branch’s poppy campaign co-ordinator and bartender, said the Amazon partnership never came up in meetings with other legion volunteers and officials.
“I work at the legion, I work with the Vancouver poppy office and I go to the meetings for the Vancouver poppy campaign — which includes all the legions in Vancouver — and not once has this been mentioned,” she said.
Paddon said the initiative is a great idea, but she would like to have known more about it.
The legion also sells a larger collection of items at poppystore.ca.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
