Sen. Lynn Beyak denies claiming to be Metis

OTTAWA – Sen. Lynn Beyak is denying she ever claimed to be Metis.

She issued a two-line statement Wednesday saying the media have reported that she is Metis but she says she has never been a member of the Indigenous nation.

“Metis are a great people but to be clear: I am not now, never was, and never will be Metis,” she said. “I have never claimed to be Metis at any time, in any way, to any one, in my life.”

Comments from Beyak about her heritage were related in an appendix to a report from the Senate’s ethics committee, which last Friday recommended that Beyak be suspended again over racist letters about Indigenous Peoples she had posted to her website.

The appendix detailed concerns from staff at the centre where Beyak took Indigenous cultural training sessions, as demanded by the Senate. They said Beyak identified herself as Metis and that she reasoned this was because her parents adopted an Indigenous child, who became her sister.

The Metis National Council said yesterday she should consider resigning over the matter.

David Chartrand, vice-president of the national council, called Beyak’s comments insulting, racist and a total misrepresentation of Metis identity.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 5, 2020.