Environment Minister Kevin Klein's claim to be Métis denounced by brother, Manitoba Métis Federation

The Manitoba government's website continues to identify Environment Minister Kevin Klein as Métis, even though the president of the Manitoba Métis Federation, a prominent Métis lawyer and Klein's own brother all dispute the claim.

"The basis for stating Mr. Klein as Indigenous is because he has publicly identified himself as a Canadian Métis," a spokesperson for Premier Heather Stefanson wrote in January.

Klein says he belongs to the Painted Feather Woodland Métis. The entity is not recognized by the Manitoba Métis Federation or the Métis Nation of Ontario. It's a for-profit company based out of a single-family residence near Bancroft, Ont., just over 250 kilometres northeast of Toronto. 

Klein says he claims to be Métis as a connection to his late mother, whom he has publicly identified as Indigenous. 

"I'm not self-identifying, nor am I using it, nor am I mentioning it every time I open my mouth. It is a family issue for me and a connection to my mother," Klein said in an interview during his run for mayor last fall.

Contacted by CBC News, Klein's brother, Christopher Rout, said he does not consider himself, his brother or his mother Métis.

"I remember learning about Métis in school. I think I would have learned something then and been told something, but no. No, we're not Métis," Rout said in an interview with CBC News. He would seek Métis citizenship if he were eligible, he said.

Rout is Klein's younger brother and although they have the same parents, their surnames are different. Klein officially changed his name from Harold Kevin Rout Jr. to Kevin Elvis Klein sometime before his second marriage in 1994, according to the marriage certificate. 

Manitoba Métis Federation president David Chartrand told CBC after a request for comment that he disputes Klein's claim to be Métis.

"Kevin Klein simply does not meet our criteria. We do not recognize the Painted Feather Woodlands Métis or any other group that claims Métis identity outside our definition. This is no different than any of the other cases where groups or individuals are calling themselves Métis when they really mean mixed heritage," Chartrand wrote in an email to CBC News. 

Genealogical research done by CBC News — some going back five generations — did not find any evidence Klein's mother has a Métis or other Indigenous ancestor.

Census and other historical records say most of Klein's maternal ancestors came to Canada from England or Ireland.

His relative who most recently immigrated to Canada was his great-grandfather born in 1889, who came from Jersey, one of the British Islands. Two of his great-grandmother's grandparents were born in England, the other two in Ireland.

The only one of Klein's ancestors whose roots were not traced back overseas was his great-grandmother born in 1875, whose death certificate indicated her racial origin is English. Her grandparents, three of whom were born in the U.S. and the other in Canada, all said they were not "Indian" in the 1861 census.