Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Official Languages Randy Boissonnault takes questions from reporters before a meeting of the Liberal caucus on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Oct. 9.Justin Tang/The Canadian Press
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has defended Employment Minister Randy Boissonnault, who is facing calls from the Conservatives and the NDP to resign after the minister apologized for not being clear about his family’s Indigenous heritage.
Mr. Boissonnault is facing scrutiny in Parliament over connections to a company he previously co-owned called Global Health Imports, as well as his past descriptions of his family’s Indigenous history.
The Edmonton Centre MP was first elected in 2015 and was defeated in 2019. He was re-elected in the 2021 federal election and elevated to cabinet that year.
During his time outside of politics, GHI described itself as an Indigenous company in a 2020 bid for a government contract to supply face masks, according to a National Post report earlier this month.
In a Nov. 8 statement, Mr. Boissonnault blamed his former business partner for describing the company as Indigenous without his consent.
Mr. Trudeau was asked Tuesday whether he still has confidence in Mr. Boissonnault in light of questions about the company and his family history.
“Minister Boissonnault has addressed these and will continue to answer directly for those. In the meantime, I’m happy that he is continuing to lead on issues around jobs and employment, and represent Alberta and our government,” the Prime Minister told reporters in Rio de Janeiro, where he is attending meetings of the G20.
Controversy over Mr. Boissonnault’s business ties and comments about indigeneity is surfacing at a time of heightened focus on a federal policy that aims to ensure 5 per cent of all federal contracting dollars are awarded to Indigenous companies.
Indigenous Services Minister Patty Hajdu appeared Tuesday before a committee studying that policy. Ms. Hajdu said Mr. Boissonnault’s company was never listed in a federal database of Indigenous companies that is used to administer federal incentives.
When asked if he should remain in cabinet, she said, “That’s not a decision for me to make.”
Mr. Boissonnault’s Nov. 8 statement said he was adopted into a family that has Indigenous ancestry “with my adopted mother and brother both being status Métis. I myself do not have status, though I have participated in an Indigenous caucus as an ally throughout my time as an MP.”
The Liberal Party’s Indigenous Peoples’ Commission issued a news release in 2015 praising the election of eight “Indigenous Liberal candidates,” listing Mr. Boissonnault among them. The news release remained online as of Tuesday.
In a 2018 Commons committee meeting, Mr. Boissonault described himself as a non-status adopted Cree from Alberta and said his great-grandmother “was a full-blooded Cree woman.”
“Everybody thinks my mom is Mexican because she goes out and tans for a half-hour to two hours and it’s like she’s been outside all summer. She’s one-quarter Cree,” he said.
Mr. Boissonault held a news conference Friday in Edmonton where he apologized “for not being as clear” about his family history as he could have been.
He said he’s asked the Liberal Party not to describe him as Indigenous.
“I never asked the party to refer to me as an Indigenous person. I never clicked any box in any form with the Liberal Party. I have never put an Indigenous claim to any contract or any application in my entire life,” he said.
He said that his mother and brother “are now citizens” of the Métis Nation of Alberta.
“I’m learning about my family in real time,” he said.
Alice Hansen, a spokesperson for the minister, said in an e-mail Tuesday that the minister’s own understanding of his great-grandmother’s lineage was inaccurate and that this came as a surprise to him.
“Once again, Minister Boissonnault does not claim Indigenous status personally,” she said.
Jody Wilson-Raybould, who became the first Indigenous justice minister in 2015 and later resigned from cabinet and was expelled from the Liberal caucus over a disagreement with Mr. Trudeau related to SNC-Lavalin, said the Prime Minister should have removed Mr. Boissonault from cabinet a long time ago.
“Instead we get to watch white people play ancestry wheel of fortune. So shameful and extremely destructive!” she said on X.
The issue dominated Question Period, where Conservative MPs repeatedly called on Mr. Boissonault to resign.
“Why on Earth has the Prime Minister not fired this man?” said Conservative House Leader Andrew Scheer.
NDP MP Blake Desjarlais, who is Métis and represents the riding of Edmonton Griesbach, criticized Mr. Trudeau’s defence of the minister.
“The Prime Minister has to kick him out of cabinet,” Mr. Desjarlais told reporters.