Nipissing First Nation chief calls on Nickel Belt MP to remove Indigenous claim from his resume – CBC

Mar 04, 2024

The chief of Nipissing First Nation says there’s a fine line between being proud of having an Indigenous ancestor and claiming to be Indigenous.

Chief Scott McLeod says he’d like to see the federal Liberal party tell Nickel Belt MP Marc Serré not to identify himself as an Indigenous politician, as he did prior to the 2021 election, and not list him as such.

McLeod took to social media in the wake of news that that the Liberal MP was being removed from the Algonquins of Ontario (AOO) in a recent registry cleanup.

The AOO is tightening enrolment criteria, removing nearly 25 per cent of its electors as it presses to conclude a modern treaty with the Canadian and Ontario governments

The Liberal MP told CBC Indigenous that  although he is no longer with the Mattawa/North Bay Algonquin First Nation, he will still identify as Indigenous and Métis, but not Algonquin.

McLeod says Marc Serré’s continued self-identification as Métis is emblematic of a wider issue.

Read More: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sudbury/nipissing-indigenous-metis-serre-mcleod-1.7131684