Liberal MP maintains Indigenous identity, despite removal from Algonquin group

A Liberal member of Parliament says he'll continue identifying as Indigenous, despite being removed from the Algonquins of Ontario (AOO) in a recent registry cleanup.

The controversial umbrella organization 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.

But even though Nickel Belt MP Marc Serré is no longer with the Mattawa/North Bay Algonquin First Nation, he isn't backing away from his identity.

«I still identify as Indigenous and Métis, but I don't identify myself [as Algonquin] since I got the letter,» Serré told CBC Indigenous.

Serré said he doesn't intend to apply to join the Métis Nation of Ontario, which is on the cusp of attaining federal recognition as an Indigenous government.

«I don't need to be a member of an association to identify, and so I have no intention at this point to apply. I'm going to continue doing my work in supporting Indigenous communities,» he said.

Serré is among nearly 2,000 former AOO electors swept up in a push to remove non-Algonquins from the group, which previously counted 8,500 members, according to a final statistical reassessment obtained by CBC Indigenous.

The organization comprises 10 communities, Mattawa/North Bay among them, but only one is federally recognized: Algonquins of Pikwakanagan, roughly 150 kilometres west of Ottawa.

Pikwakanagan filed a land claim to roughly 36,000 square kilometres of unceded land in eastern Ontario in the 1980s.

In an interview, Pikwakanagan Chief Greg Sarazin said AOO was created in the mid-2000s, after Canada and Ontario insisted all people with a claim to Algonquin rights in the area should be included.

«That then of course led to the