The vice-president of the Waceya M茅tis Society is publicly questioning Liberal candidate Madison Fleischer鈥檚 claimed M茅tis identity.

Callum Robinson, VP for Waceya, whose office is located in Cloverdale, issued a that said the society was 鈥渄isappointed鈥� Fleischer was unable to 鈥減rovide any evidence to substantiate her M茅tis heritage.鈥�

Fleischer is running as the Liberal Party candidate in the upcoming byelection for the riding of Cloverdale-Langley City. Fleischer has identified, publicly, as M茅tis.

According to the statement, at a meeting held Nov. 23, Fleischer 鈥渨as unable to substantiate her claims with any documentation or historical connections to M茅tis communities.鈥�

Robinson told the Cloverdale Reporter, 鈥渢here were many inconsistencies in her story.鈥� These included: 鈥渃laimed correspondence with our president, which didn't exist; and 鈥渟tated her great-grandmother from North Dakota as proof of M茅tis heritage.鈥�

He said the society is "distancing" itself from her claims of M茅tis identity.

鈥淲e ask that (Fleischer) take the necessary steps to properly research and verify her Indigenous heritage before making any further public assertions," the statement continues. "The integrity of M茅tis identity is not to be taken lightly, especially in public office, where the representation of our community must be accurate, respectful, and legitimate.鈥�

In an emailed statement to the Reporter, Fleischer said she self-identifies as M茅tis because of what she knows about her great-grandmother鈥檚 heritage.

鈥淚 am currently collecting the necessary documentation to go through the application process to receive M茅tis Nation British Columbia (MNBC) citizenship,鈥� she wrote. 鈥淚 have always been vocal about not yet holding MNBC citizenship, and I removed M茅tis from my social media bios to ensure there was no confusion in my identification.鈥�