Indigenous prof says UBC's silence on Turpel-Lafond controversy casts 'shadow' on institution

Daniel Justice says he was met with silence by the University of British Columbia (UBC) for more than two months, despite his best efforts to raise concerns about how the institution was handling the controversy around former UBC professor Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond.

On Oct. 12, a CBC investigation found that genealogical evidence indicated Turpel-Lafond was of entirely European ancestry, despite the fact she had claimed for decades to be a treaty Indian of Cree ancestry. The investigation also raised concerns about false claims she had made regarding her academic achievements.

She no longer works for the university, as of Dec. 16, but UBC won't say why.

In a statement to other media outlets, Turpel-Lafond indicated that she retired to focus "on my health, family and spiritual journey."

Justice said he's not happy with how UBC handled this from the outset.

"The university comes out very strongly in defence of her at the very beginning," recalled Justice, an Indigenous UBC professor. "All of the concern — the public concern — was protecting Mary Ellen."

In a statement to the Globe and Mail the day the story was published, UBC praised Turpel-Lafond's work as the head of UBC's Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre. It declined to comment on her Indigenous ancestry claims, noting that they played no role in the decision to hire her.

Justice said that approach stands in stark contrast to how the university treated him and other Indigenous professors who expressed concern.

"There was not any public acknowledgement that there were other people who were hurt by this and other relationships that were hurt by this," said Justice.

"It's hard not to look at all of that and not feel a little bit abandoned by the institution."

Candis Callison, the Canada Research Chair in Indigenous journalism, media and public discourse at UBC, said the institution's response has cast an "unnecessary shadow" over UBC. 

She said UBC went silent after its initial defence of Turpel-Lafond, rather than publicly acknowledging the seriousness of the concerns raised and committing to look into them. 

"UBC looks like a very closed-door place for people to want to express concerns about something that affects us all," she said. "It doesn't appear that the university took into consideration many of the concerns that were expressed privately and directly."

An internal UBC email leaked to CBC provides some insight into the decision making process as the university found itself in the midst of what Globe and Mail columnist Gary Mason has called a "full-on scandal."