berrygrounds

Vianne Timmons may be gone, but the controversy around her claims of Indigeneity have brought two key issues at Memorial University to the fore. Race-shifting, as it's become known: the growing phenomenon of settlers seeking out Indigenous ancestry to claim an Indigenous identity today. And the crisis in governance at Newfoundland and Labrador’s only university.

In the first half of Episode 6, a conversation with Métis lawyer Jean Teillet, who wrote a report last year for the University of Saskatchewan on race-shifting and Indigenous identity fraud in Canadian universities. 

In the second half, we speak with two faculty leaders from MUNL, Robin Whitaker and Ash Hossain, about the years-long push for a more open and transparent hiring process for senior administrators. 

Then we go back to 2019 and uncover an alarming fact about how Vianne Timmons was hired.

Read Teillet's full report, "Indigenous Identity Fraud".

Listen to Episode 5 of berrygrounds: "Vianne Timmons and the Race-Shifting Conundrum".

Songs Xenon Sentry, Pop Rocks, and Reach the Top courtesy Shane Ivers of Silverman Sound Studios.

Creators & Guests

Host
Justin Brake
He/him. Journalist. Settler. Future ancestor. Born 338 ppm.

What is berrygrounds?

With an eye to power, host Justin Brake takes a closer look at key issues facing Newfoundland and Labrador. A brand new podcast from The Independent.