Canada’s Employment Minister resigns over false claims about his Indigenous ancestry

Amid the ongoing political turmoil in Canada, the country’s Employment Minister Randy Boissonnault has resigned from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s cabinet after his shifting claims of Indigenous ancestry. Trudeau’s office confirmed that Boissonnault would “step away from cabinet effective immediately” and would “focus on clearing the allegations made against him,” moments before the parliament question period on Wednesday.

Boissonnault’s claims to Indigenous identity were subject to scrutiny after Canadian news outlet the National Post reported that a company he co-owned positioned itself as Indigenous-owned or “Aboriginal” while bidding on federal contracts. Boissonnault later blamed his ex-business partner and denied any knowledge of the claims.

It is pertinent to note that the lawmaker from Alberta has never explicitly claimed that he was indigenous. However, he often described himself as a “non-status adopted Cree”. He even went on to refer to his great-grandmother as “a full-blooded” Cree woman.

Boissonnault’s shifting claims of Indigenous ancestry

Back in 2018, the Canadian lawmaker told a parliamentary committee that as a child, his great-grandmother told him: “We come from the land, Randy, and someday we’ll go back to the land, and the land will be all shared in the future.” The National Post also found instances where Boissonnault would speak a few words in Cree.

“That is Cree for: ‘Guests you’re welcome, there’s room here,’” Boissonnault told an Edmonton crowd in 2019. “And if my great-grandmother, full-blooded Cree woman Lucy Brenneis were here, she may well welcome you in exactly that same way.”

Amid the brewing scandal, last week, Boissonnault apologized for “not being as clear as he could have been” about his heritage. Shortly after that, his office acknowledged his adoptive great-grandmother had Métis lineage, and was not Cree. A spokesperson from the ministry went on to state that Boissonnault’s “own understanding of his family’s heritage was inaccurate”.

The whole saga not only stirred headlines but prompted several lawmakers in the Conservative and New Democratic parties to call for his resignation. Earlier this week, NDP MP Blake Desjarlais said that Trudeau should sack Boissonnault from the cabinet if he refused to resign.

“The real victims here aren’t the Liberals. The real victim isn’t Randy. The real victims are Indigenous businesses and Indigenous people who did everything right. They did all that, just to learn that the system is rigged right here at the top,” Desjarlais, who is Métis, told reporters, accusing the education minister of “pretendianism”.

Meanwhile, Jody Wilson-Raybould, who served as Trudeau’s attorney general and justice minister took to social media, making similar calls. “A Prime Minister committed to true reconciliation would have removed Randy (and the other Randy) from Cabinet long ago. Instead, we get to watch white people play ancestry wheel of fortune,” she wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. “So shameful and extremely destructive!” she added.

A Prime Minister committed to true reconciliation would have removed Randy (and the other Randy) from Cabinet long ago. Instead we get to watch white people play ancestry wheel of fortune.

So shameful and extremely destructive! #CdnPoli https://t.co/7FCCdjas3k

— Jody Wilson-Raybould (JWR), PC, OBC, KC 王州迪 (@Puglaas) November 19, 2024

Not the only scandal on Boissonnault’s plate

Other than this, the Canadian lawmaker is embroiled in a scandal over whether he was improperly involved in the daily operations of the PPE company Global Health Imports while serving as a cabinet member. The issue came to light after records of text messages showed that someone named “Randy” was part of the discussion about the transfer of roughly C$500,000 to secure a large shipment of nitrile gloves.

However, Boissonnault denied his involvement and said he was not the person identified in the messages between his former business partner and the representative of a California-based company. Following Boissonnault’s denial, the Conservatives filed a motion calling for the “other Randy” to appear before the ethics committee.