The former judge is renouncing honorary doctorates from two Vancouver Island universities

(Vancouver Island University)

A Saanich-based former judge and prominent Canadian scholar with claims of Indigenous ancestry has now been stripped of two honorary doctorates on Vancouver Island due to public inquiries into her heritage.

Vancouver Island University (VIU) awarded former professor and former University of British Columbia (UBC) judge Mary Turpel-Lafond an honorary doctorate in 2013, and Royal Roads awarded her a similar doctorate three years later in 2016.

Since a CBC investigation unearthed discrepancies with her claims about Indigenous heritage, education and achievements, she has since returned them when review panels began questioning the former judge.

“The University contacted Turpel-Lafond during the review process, which also included consultation with Indigenous and academic colleagues and engagement with the University’s Honors and Awards Advisory Committee,” a Royal Roads spokesman said in a statement.

“Turpel-Lafond responded by voluntarily forgoing the degree and the Royal Roads Board of Governors has accordingly annulled the degree.”

Her VIU doctorate was relinquished on January 17 after a similar statement.

Turpel-Lafond was believed to be the first person from a treaty First Nation in Saskatchewan to be appointed to the Saskatchewan Provincial Court. With the scrutiny she has faced and other false claims coming to light, her authentic parentage is uncertain.

CBC’s investigation also revealed that she was accused of falsifying claims that she received an honorary doctorate from the First Nations University of Canada and about an international law diploma, which she claimed was a masters from Cambridge.

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