The University of Toronto has rescinded an honorary degree it awarded to folk singer Buffy Sainte-Marie, following a confidential review of her disputed Indigenous ancestry claims.
The university’s governing council announced the decision Wednesday to revoke the honorary Doctor of Laws degree that Sainte-Marie received in 2019 for her contributions to music, the arts, and social advocacy.
The revocation follows a Canadian Broadcast Corporation investigation by “The Fifth Estate” in October 2023 that challenged Sainte-Marie’s Indigenous identity.
The report cited a birth certificate indicating she was born in Massachusetts to parents of Italian-American descent, contradicting decades of biographies and media coverage identifying her as Algonquin, Mi’kmaw, and Cree.