By Canadian Press

‘Tsunami’ of Indigenous identity fraud cases heading to courts, warns B.C. judge

Mar 15, 2024 | 12:30 PM

OTTAWA — A British Columbia judge is warning that what he calls a “tsunami” of Indigenous identity fraud cases is coming to Canadian courts.

Provincial Court Judge David Patterson says that’s driven by the “desire” of non-Indigenous people to access what they deem to be benefits of identifying as Indigenous.

He says judges must be “alive to the issue” and require proof that ensures an offender is entitled to be sentenced as an Indigenous person.

A set of guidelines known as Gladue factors requires courts to consider an Indigenous person’s background during sentencing.

That could include family trauma, poverty and whether being separated from their culture could have contributed to their offence.

One Man's Opinion

COLLINS: North Shore BIA working hard to develop a 'happening place'

1h ago

1000 Ways to Heal

1000 Ways to Heal: Moons

Dec 10, 2024

Question of the Week

Should Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson apologize or resign after it was found he breached a section of council's code of conduct for allowing false or misleading information to be communicated?

Dec 09, 2024

Patterson found in the ruling that the accused person in the case provided questionable and inadequate claims to Métis identity that were based on “family lore” that his great-great-grandmother was indigenous.

In the case, pastor Nathan Allen Joseph Legault was convicted on charges related to child pornography.

Legault argued in the case that he understood himself to be Métis because his ancestor was part of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy.

Patterson said in the ruling that the self-identification meant Gladue factors should be considered.

But he determined that Legault did not meet the criteria to have such factors apply in his case, and his family history did not “negatively” affect him in a way that would be legally meaningful.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March. 15, 2024.

The Canadian Press