 In a December 2016 complaint to the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal, six Northern British Columbia First Nations members formally accused the federal government and RCMP of racial and ethnic discrimination in mishandling their allegations that John Furlong abused them.In January 2017, University of British Columbia (UBC) president Santa J. Ono apologized to Furlong for cancelling his keynote address at the February Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation fundraising event for athletes.Days later, in an apparent response to a strong public reaction against the speech cancellation including alumni who threatened to withhold major donations, Ono announced that UBC had reversed that decision expressing "deep regret" for the impact of cancelling on Furlong.