By Canadian Press

Sen. Lynn Beyak denies claiming to be Metis

Feb 5, 2020 | 12:01 PM

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

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

Beyak also says she has never, at any time in her life, made such a claim.

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, who said Beyak identified herself as Metis and reasoned this was because her parents adopted an Indigenous child, who became her sister.

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

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

The Canadian Press