Two mayoral candidates vying to become Winnipeg's second Indigenous mayor

Winnipeg voters could elect a second Indigenous mayor — Kevin Klein, who identifies as Métis, and Robert-Falcon Ouellette, who identifies as Métis and Cree, are both running in the 11-person mayoral race.

Kevin Klein is a member of Painted Feather Woodland Métis, a group out of Bancroft, Ont., that is not recognized by the Métis Nation of Ontario or the Manitoba Métis Federation. 

Klein, currently a city councillor who says he identified as Métis before entering politics, said he's not wearing his membership to this group "as a badge" and he has not received any benefits from being a member of the Painted Feather Woodland Métis. 

He said as a child, he attended some Indigenous events, but he did not understand the connection. 

He sought membership after his uncle, already a member of Painted Feather, told him he is Métis while they were looking through pictures of relatives around six to 10 years ago.

"I feel that the family connection is there. I don't think it's any different than a lot of people that self-identify," Klein said.

For Klein, whose mother was murdered by her partner in 1991 when he was in his mid-20s, the reason for getting a membership was to maintain a connection to her. 

"It's about family. So it's not about identifying as you're with a certain nation and stuff. I'm Canadian, you know, that's why it says Canadian Métis. So I don't really get into the politics of organizations," Klein said in an interview. 

"When you identify as Métis or you identify as Italian … that's Canada, right?" said Klein. "Canada has been a lot of nations, a lot of different cultures that have come together … on Canadian soil, but as the homeland of Indigenous people."

Klein said he would like to spend more time researching his lineage to find out where his maternal ancestors come from. 

After it was pointed out that some academics and Métis governments do not accept Painted Feather's criterion for membership which simply requires having a single "aboriginal" ancestor, Klein responded in an emailed statement.

"I am not aware of the items raised by CBC News in the email received regarding the Painted Feather Woodland Métis," wrote Klein. 

Darren O'Toole, an associate professor at the Faculty of Law at the University of Ottawa, said a card from a group like Painted Feather does not necessarily make a person Métis. 

"It doesn't prove for me that you're a member of the Métis people or Nation, but it doesn't prove that you're not, either," said O'Toole, who is a citizen of the Manitoba Métis Federation.