The forward wing is mounted at a slightly greater angle of attack than the main wing so that it will stall first and allow the nose to drop. It also has flaps on the trailing edge to counter the nose-down pitching tendency of the flaps on the main wing. It may not be affected by the weather like the canard on a Rutan-designed aircraft, but it certainly works like one. So, I’d say the front wing is a canard. But since the plane also has a conventional tail, it’s not a true canard aircraft like the Beech Starship.