Boissonnault faces new scrutiny over his statements on family's Indigeneity
Kate McKenna | CBC News | Posted: November 15, 2024 9:00 AM | Last Updated: November 18
Employment minister says he’s not Indigenous — experts say past statements appear contradictory
Employment Minister Randy Boissonnault is set to face a new round of questions over his business dealings and family history at a parliamentary committee in the wake of a report that his former company claimed to be "Indigenous owned" when bidding for federal contracts in 2020.
The minister and Edmonton MP has been tied up in multiple probes into past business dealings for months. The medical supplies company he co-founded, Global Health Imports (GHI), became mired in lawsuits, scandal and probes into whether Boissonnault continued to work with the company after becoming a cabinet minister — which would be illegal.
Boissonnault has denied all allegations and has claimed his former business partner, Stephen Anderson, was working without his consent to "advance his personal interests."
A story published in the National Post last week prompted a closer look into what Boissonnault has said about his family's Indigenous links — and how what he's said about his family has shifted over time.
While Boissonnault's spokesperson has said he has never claimed to be Indigenous himself, others — including the Liberal Party — have claimed it on his behalf.
In 2015, the Liberal Party's Indigenous Peoples' Commission — an internal party group that promotes the interests of Indigenous party members — identified Boissonnault as one of ten Indigenous Liberal candidates elected to the House of Commons.
The claim was repeated on the social media platform Instagram.
In 2019, the Liberal Party told CBC News that Boissonnault was Indigenous — but five weeks after an article listing the number of Indigenous candidates was published, the Liberal Party sent a clarification stating that Boissonnault does not claim Indigenous heritage.
The party said the information identifying Boissonnault as Indigenous "came from a staff error."
At the time, the Liberal Party said Boissonnault's mother was Cree.
During a hearing of the parliamentary language committee, Boissonnault said his Cree name means "strong eagle man." His spokesperson said the name was given to him by an elder in 2021.
At a heritage committee hearing, Boissonnault referred to his Cree great-grandmother, Lucy Brown Eyes.
Boissonnault now says his mother is Métis. Some experts are skeptical.
"I think we ought to know who our mother is," said Michelle Good, a retired lawyer and author and member of the Red Pheasant Cree Nation.
"It's very concerning to me because there seem to be some significant discrepancies, similar to what we see with other cases of identity fraud."
Boissonnault's spokesperson, Alice Hansen, said that the minister's mother and brother registered in the past year as citizens of the Métis Nation of Alberta. She said that before they could be accepted, they had to provide personal information and documentation.
Hansen said that Boissonnault self-identified as a "non-status adopted Cree" at the suggestion of an Indigenous researcher.
"It was an explanation of his adoptive family's Indigenous history as they understood it at the time," she said in a media statement.
Boissonnault called on to leave Indigenous caucus
Boissonnault has also been a member of the Liberal Indigenous caucus. The caucus defines itself as a "caucus of MPs who are First Nation, Métis and Inuit nations and have been elected from ridings across Canada and throughout Turtle Island."
Boissonnault said he sat in that caucus as an ally to represent Alberta and the large urban Indigenous population in his constituency. On Friday, he said he left the caucus in 2021. However, he was still listed as a member on the Liberal party's website.
Before Boissonnault said he left the caucus, Jean Teillet, a retired Métis lawyer and author and the great grandniece of Louis Riel, told CBC News he should be removed.
"A lot of people have got jobs and in major positions and been allowed to sit on Indigenous caucuses for a long time, and thereby develop Indigenous policy, which will affect Indigenous, people, based on what?" she said.
"(Diversity, equity and inclusion) has been very important to this particular federal government. The prime minister and the cabinet have tried to represent themselves as a new, inclusive government. This calls that into question."
Good also said Boissonnault should be removed from the caucus. She was also speaking before he said he had left.
Another member of the Liberal Indigenous caucus, Nickel Belt MP Marc Serré, has faced questions about his Indigenous identity.
The Liberal Party did not respond to questions sent by CBC News.
Conservatives vow to expand investigations
The parliamentary ethics committee is calling Boissonnault to testify for a third time, citing a new cache of texts in which Anderson said he was updating "Randy" about the status of a sale of medical gloves to the company 4M Medical in 2022.
Boissonnault denies staying in regular contact with Anderson and has said he ceased working with the company when he was sworn into cabinet in 2021, in keeping with federal conflict of interest law.
He accused his former business partner of acting unilaterally when making false representations to portray Global Health Imports as an Indigenous-owned company, and said it happened without his knowledge.
Conservatives are vowing to expand investigations at multiple parliamentary committees following the National Post's report that GHI bid twice on federal contracts in 2020 claiming it was a "wholly owned Indigenous and LGBTQ+ company."
"Randy Boissonnault must come clean about his scandal-filled business, which evidence suggests he was still actively involved in while serving as a senior Trudeau minister," said Conservative ethics critic Michael Barrett in a media statement.
"This is even more urgent given the new allegations that his company fraudulently claimed to be Indigenous-owned while applying for government contracts."
Boissonnault said he regrets his "error in judgment in having gone into business with Mr. Anderson."
Anderson did not agree to an interview.
Clarifications:- This story has been updated to clarify that although Randy Boissonnault was still listed online as a member of the Liberal Indigenous caucus, he is no longer a member. November 18, 2024 8:04 PM