The BC Métis Society says the Liberal candidate should resign

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OTTAWA – The BC Métis society is calling on federal Liberal candidate Madison Fleischer to resign after raising questions about the indigenous heritage she publicly claimed for years.

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In an interview, Callum Robinson, vice-president of the Waceya Métis Society in Langley, BC, said he first raised questions about Fleischer’s claims about Indigenous and Métis identity a week ago to both the candidate and the Liberal Party of Canada. The Waceya Métis Society is an established community represented by the Métis Nation of British Columbia (MNBC).

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He says the questions stemmed from Fleischer contacting the association to seek endorsement as a Métis candidate when he was officially nominated as the Liberal representative in the Nov. 10 Cloverdale-Langley City by-election.

He says he met with Fleischer on November 23 to discuss his Métis heritage and left the meeting disappointed that he could not produce any real evidence of Métis heritage.

“She couldn’t give me any preliminary evidence” other than that her grandmother was from North Dakota, Robinson said. “He says he’s an expert on indigenous protocol, so he should know these things.”

“I think he should resign,” he added. “What does it take to keep this person riding? Like, this is just bad PR, (the party) knew about this last week when I raised my concerns.”

In his statement, Fleischer said he was preparing a Métis citizenship application to be sent to the Métis Nation British Columbia.

“I identify as Métis based on what I know of my grandmother’s heritage,” reads Fleischer’s statement.

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“I’ve always been vocal about not having MNBC citizenship yet, and removed Métis from my social media bios to ensure there was no confusion about my identity.”

Over the years, Fleischer has repeatedly identified himself as either “Native” or “Mesti” on social media, but most references to Indigenous heritage appear to have recently been removed from his online profiles, including on December 16 those promoting his Liberal candidacy. at the elections.

But on Tuesday night, the Waceya Métis Society released a statement questioning Fleischer’s Métis heritage.

“After meeting with him on November 23rd to discuss these claims, we were disappointed that he was unable to provide evidence to support his Métis heritage. At this meeting, Madison was unable to support his claims with any documentation or historical connections to Métis communities,” the club said in a statement.

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“The Waceya Métis Society wishes to distance itself from Madison’s assertions about Métis identity. We ask that Madison take the necessary steps to properly investigate and verify her Indigenous heritage before making any further public assertions,” it added.

Fleischer’s statement did not specify when he decided to remove mention of Métis or Indigenous heritage from his social media pages, but archived versions of some pages show it was after he was announced as the Liberal candidate on November 10.

An earlier version of his X profile, archived by Google, reads “Liberal Party of Canada MP candidate for Cloverdale-Langley City. Indigenous advocate. Métis. Small business owner. Community leader.” The word “Métis” has since disappeared from the description.

An archived version of his LinkedIn page also shows that he previously described himself as “indigenous”. It has since been replaced by the letters “MGC”

On October 16, a community group press release announcing that Fleischer had won a humanitarian award for a line of merchandise that raised funds for Ukraine identified him as a “non-status mestizo with Ukrainian ancestry.”

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In the archived 2022 version of his “Slava Sweatshirts” website, he was alternatively identified as “Métis” and “of mixed European and Wahpeton Dakota descent”.

Last year, she noted her “mixed Aboriginal heritage” in a LinkedIn post celebrating receiving a “Top 25 under 25” award from the Surrey Board of Trade.

The party referenced both of these awards in its biography of Fleischer.

The Liberal Party has yet to respond to questions about whether it has a vetting process to verify a potential candidate’s claims of Indigenous ancestry.

The questions about Fleischer’s Indigenous heritage come a week after Liberal MP Randy Boissonnault resigned from his government in part because of his statements about Indigenous heritage that have changed over the years.

“We encourage all who wish to identify as Métis to engage in genuine research and consultation. This will ensure that our voices are not diluted or misrepresented, especially at a time when Indigenous identity is being scrutinized,” the Waceya Métis Society wrote in a statement.

The Metis Nation of British Columbia said in a statement that it encourages those who self-identify as Métis to apply for citizenship, which requires them to go through “rigorous processes” where they must show “strong evidence of descent and connection to the Métis Nation.” “

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“Métis Nation British Columbia (MNBC) strongly condemns anyone who makes false claims about Indigenous identity,” its CEO Colette Trudeau said in a statement.

“We know firsthand the damage these allegations are causing to Indigenous communities across the country.”

The CEO welcomes those who completed the application. Like Métis peoples in other provinces, it does not disclose the names of those on the registry or those who have applied.

National Post
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