MPs, Indigenous leader call for Boissonnault to resign over shifting claims about family
2 Conservative MPs were booted from House after making comments about Boissonnault
Some Indigenous leaders are now backing calls for Employment Minister Randy Boissonnault to resign over conflicting claims about his family's background.
Boissonnault has been under scrutiny for months over claims made about his family's Indigenous heritage and allegations that his former company Global Health Imports (GHI) claimed to be "Indigenous-owned" when bidding for federal contracts in 2020.
He has denied having any involvement in the business since he was re-elected in 2021 and has claimed that his former business partner Stephen Anderson — chief operating officer of GHI — was working without his consent to "advance his personal interests."
Joanna Bernard, Assembly of First Nations regional chief for New Brunswick, told CBC's Power & Politics on Tuesday that she thinks Boissonnault should resign in light of the conflicting statements about his family's heritage.
"If somebody is doing something on his behalf, he should have been aware," Bernard said. "I think ignorance is not an excuse and he should resign."
She added that the government's apparent inability to verify Métis status contributes to flaws in the Indigenous business procurement system.
"The prime minister himself could identify as Métis," she said. "We need accountability and transparency on these contracts to ensure that whoever is getting them are truly Métis and truly First Nations."
Boissonault has described his great-grandmother several times as a Cree woman. Census records suggest that she was of German descent.
That story was first reported by the National Post.
On Nov. 8, Boissonnault said in a media statement that his "adopted mother and brother" are status Métis.
The Edmonton MP has never claimed to be Indigenous. However, others — including the Liberal Party — have claimed Indigenous identity on his behalf.
Alice Hansen, a spokesperson for Boissonnault, said in a media statement on Tuesday that the employment minister "spoke to what he believed to be accurate his whole life."
"As recent reporting has come to light, it appears that the minister's own understanding of his family's heritage was inaccurate," Hansen said. "This information has come as a surprise to the minister, and he has apologized for not being as clear as he could have been."
Edmonton Griesbach MP Blake Desjarlais, a New Democrat of Cree and Métis descent, told reporters on Tuesday that Boissonnault "must resign as minister" because he is making decisions related to Indigenous people's lives while he is uncertain of his own connections.
Desjarlais's statement marks the first time a member of the NDP has asked for Boissonnault to step down.
"If he does not resign, it's incumbent on the prime minister to kick someone like that out," Desjarlais said.
Conservative MP Andrew Scheer read into the record during question period a social media post by former federal justice minister Jody Wilson-Raybould — a descendent of the Musgamagw Tsawataineuk and a member of the We Wai Kai Nation in B.C.
On Tuesday, Wilson-Raybould said that claims of Boissonnault's Indigeneity are "shameful and extremely destructive."
"A Prime Minister committed to true reconciliation would have removed Randy (and the other Randy) from Cabinet long ago," she wrote on X. "Instead we get to watch white people play ancestry wheel of fortune."
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau expelled Wilson-Raybould and Dr. Jane Philpott from the Liberal caucus in 2019 in the midst of the SNC-Lavalin affair, after saying the trust between them and the Liberals had been "broken."
Earlier on Tuesday, at the G20 summit in Brazil, Trudeau said he is "happy that [Boissonnault] is continuing to lead on issues around jobs and employment and represent Alberta in our government."
When CBC News asked Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet on Tuesday as he was walking into Parliament whether Boissonnault should resign from cabinet, he said no. However, a spokesperson for Blanchet later said that his remarks weren't intended as an answer to the question and that he did not take a position on the matter.
After question period on Tuesday, Speaker Greg Fergus asked Conservative MPs Michelle Rempel Garner, Michael Barrett and Rick Perkins to withdraw from the House for the remainder of the sitting day because they refused to withdraw remarks that broke the rules of order and decorum.
Rempel Garner had referred to Boissonnault as a "fraud" but said she was quoting a Cree lawyer cited in a National Post article.
Barrett mentioned "cocaine Randy" — a reference to the minister's former company sharing a mailbox with a woman who was detained in a drug bust.
Perkins was named and ejected for not fully withdrawing his statement about a "corrupt" member. The office of Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said Perkins was describing Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault.
With files from Kate McKenna, Raffy Boudjikanian, Chris Rands, Sarah Sears and Catherine Cullen