Place of birthTurpel-Lafond's place of birth is disputed.
According to several interviews given by Turpel-Lafond between 2007 and 2019, as well as testimony she provided to the Senate of Canada, she was born and raised on the First Nation reserve of the Norway House Cree Nation.[3]
According to the CBC, Turpel-Lafond was more likely born and raised in Niagara Falls, Ontario. The CBC's claim is based on archival voter records that show Turpel-Lafond's parents were registered to vote in Niagara Falls during both the year of her birth and the year prior to her birth; a yearbook for Niagara Falls High School that lists Turpel-Lafond as a student 14 years later; the 1996 edition of Who's Who in Canada – which was edited by Turpel-Lafond – and lists her place of birth as Niagara Falls; her ex-husband's testimony that, during the period of their marriage, he understood her to have been born and raised in Niagara Falls; and a statement from a Cree chief who lived on the reserve of the Norway House Cree Nation during the year of her birth that he has no recollection of any families with the surname Turpel living in the tight-knit community.[3]
AncestryTurpel-Lafond's ancestry and ethnicity is disputed.
According to a post made by Turpel-Lafond to her Twitter account, she is "of Cree, Scottish and English heritage"; Cree via her father, and Scottish and English via her mother.[4] That post also claims that her father, William Turpel, “was Cree, spoke Cree and lived the values of a Cree person.”[4] Turpel-Lafond asserts that her father was adopted by a British couple as a child, William Nicholson Turpel and Eleanor Rhoda Turpel, but the adoption was done informally leaving no documentary records or evidence.[4]
The CBC reports that a birth certificate, baptismal record, and newspaper birth announcement all show that Turpel-Lafond's father, William, was actually the biological child of Canadian-British couple William Nicholson Turpel and Eleanor Rhoda Turpel.[3] In an analysis of historical records undertaken at the request of the CBC by Wilfrid Laurier University professor Mark Humphries, who specializes in early Canadian social history, Humphries concluded it was "unlikely" Turpel-Lafond's father, William, was adopted as she claims.[5] A cousin and an aunt of Turpel-Lafond have both told reporters that they had never know William Turpel to have either been adopted or have been of Cree ancestry.[6] Asked to comment on Turpel-Lafond's claim that her father is Cree, her ex-husband has said that "she's constructed a whole bunch of things".[3] Joe Keeper, a Cree man born at Norway House at around the same time William Turpel was born, has told media that neither he nor anyone he knows had heard that William Turpel was Cree and he doubts the accuracy of such a claim.[6]
EducationBy age 18, Turpel-Lafond had entered Carleton University, Ottawa, gravitating from the study of math and science to politics, philosophy, and eventually the law. Turpel-Lafond received a bachelor of arts degree from Carleton University in 1982, a law degree from Osgoode Hall in 1985,[7], and a doctorate of law from Harvard Law School in 1997.[1] She also studied international comparative law of human rights at the University of Strasbourg.
Turpel-Lafond received a diploma in international law from the University of Cambridge in 1989.[8] In a 2018 curriculum vitae, she falsely claimed to have received a Master of Laws (LLM) from Cambridge.[6] According to Turpel-Lafond, a diploma in law is "equivalent to a master’s degree in law".[6] Sarah Eaton, a University of Calgary professor who specializes in academic integrity, has challenged that claim.[6] When asked by reporters, the University of Cambridge explained the diploma is a substantially different degree from the LLM.[6]
In 2014, she was awarded an honorary doctorate from McGill University and gave the commencement address to the graduating law class.[9]
Turpel-Lafond claims to have received an honorary doctorate from First Nations University of Canada.[10] According to First Nations University of Canada, it has never granted an honorary degree in the history of the institution and "any mention of receiving an honorary degree or award from FNUniv is erroneous".[10]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Ellen_Turpel-Lafond 
