Cree lawyer calls for police to investigate false claims of Indigenous identity

Leah Ballantyne feels it’s time to come down on alleged “identity shifting and pretendianism.”

Leah Ballantyne, a Cree lawyer from Pukatawagan First Nation in Manitoba, is advocating for "pretendians" to be investigated by police. Photo: APTN News


A Cree lawyer is urging police to investigate when someone falsely claims to be First Nations, Métis or Inuit as a potential fraud.

Leah Ballantyne, a member of Pukatawagan First Nation north of Winnipeg who practices law in both Manitoba and British Columbia, has spoken out on potential consequences before.

But, as questions swirl around the Indigenous identity of a prominent politician, Ballantyne feels it’s time to come down on alleged “identity shifting and pretendianism.”

“It’s extremely harmful to Indigenous people, including myself,” she said from her home in B.C. ”

There are also questions about the list of approved companies vying for federal government contracts, as first reported by Global News.


Read more:

Cabinet minister Randy Boissonnault apologizes over Indigenous identity claims


Some 1,100 companies who claimed to be Indigenous-owned were removed from the Indigenous Business Directory in 2022, Indigenous Services Minister Patty Hajdu told Parliament Tuesday.

The database is intended to list First Nations, Inuit or Métis-owned businesses eligible to access “set aside” contracts only accessible to Indigenous companies.

“I don’t know if Canadians really understand the background of why Indigenous procurement exists but it’s because First Nations, Inuit and Métis people were left out of the bigger economy,” said Ballantyne.

“… So that ‘set aside’ was actually put there to try to repair that harm. And [if] there are people trying to claim that procurement with no right to access it is continuing the harm.”

The National Post has reported that a company co-owned by Liberal MP and Employment Minister Randy Boissonnault unsuccessfully bid on two federal contracts in 2020 while identifying itself as Indigenous and Aboriginal-owned.

Since that story’s publication, Boissonnault has said the family he was adopted into has Indigenous ancestry and his adopted mother and brother are Métis.

Liberal Indigenous Caucus

Boissonnault, who represents Edmonton Centre, has previously sat as a member of the Liberal Indigenous Caucus, but said he joined it as an ally representing many Indigenous people in his community.

He has been described as Indigenous multiple times in communications from the Liberal party and in 2018 referred to himself as “non-status adopted Cree.”

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s office announced Boissonnault would step away from cabinet “to focus on clearing the allegations made against him.”

Ballantyne says politicians – along with university professors, entertainers and authors – should be put on notice.

“Anyone who is in government who takes an oath of office has to have a higher ethical standard and adhere to that oath of office for the benefit of not only Indigenous people, but for all Canadians,” she said in a telephone interview.

“Yes, the police should investigate,” Ballantyne added, “and once their investigation is concluded they would decide whether or not they would charge under the Criminal Code for the charge of fraud.”

Has apologized

Boissonnault has apologized for the shifting claims about his Indigenous identity.

He said at an unrelated announcement in Edmonton on Nov. 15 that he’s sorry he wasn’t as clear as he could have been “with everything that I know now.”

“I apologize that I wasn’t as clear as I could have been about who I am and my family’s history,” he said, adding that he’s still learning about his family’s heritage “in real time.”

He said then he’ll have to confirm his great-grandmother’s status, but his mother and brother are citizens of the Métis Nation of Alberta.

“I apologize if that particular way of referring to myself — I apologize that it was inaccurate.”

Otipemisiwak Métis Government

The Métis Nation of Alberta, which changed its name to the Otipemisiwak Métis Government in September 2023, said Wednesday its membership list is confidential.

However, President Andrea Sandmaier told APTN News in a statement that “false claims of Métis ancestry cause great harm to our communities and undermine the trust we have built in our registry process.

“The Otipemisiwak Métis Government has the strongest objectively verified citizen registry system in the country,” Sandmaier added. “When an individual says they are Métis and shows their Otipemisiwak Métis Government Citizenship card, the public can rest assured they have undergone a rigorous registry application and review process.”

APTN News has asked Boissonnault’s office for comment.

-with files from The Canadian Press

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