Indigenous honorary doctorate recipients consider returning degrees if Turpel-Lafond’s not rescinded

Indigenous professionals such as Five Little Indians author Michelle Good and University of Victoria Chancellor Marion Buller have stated that they are considering returning their honorary doctorates if the honorary doctorates granted to Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond are not rescinded. “[If Simon Fraser University] allows her to continue to carry that honour, then it’s not an honour,” said Good. Good shared that she received a “very positive letter” in response to her formal request to SFU in which the university’s chancellor and president indicated that they would develop a policy for revoking an honorary degree and apply the policy to this case. Each of the 11 universities that have issued an honorary degree to Turpel-Lafond have reportedly stated that they are evaluating the situation, with the University of Regina stating that it expects to have made a decision in February. Kamloops this Week states that Thompson Rivers University will take steps to prevent Indigenous identity fraud after President Brett Fairbairn pointed to recent questions about Turpel-Lafond’s ancestry and following the release of the University of Saskatchewan’s independent report. Note: Archived stories may contain dead links or be missing source links.