Randy Boissonnault stepping down from cabinet

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OTTAWA — Employment Minister Randy Boissonnault is stepping down from cabinet after revelations from the National Post that he had made shifting statements over his ties to Indigenous heritage over the course of his political career.

A note sent by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s office on Wednesday specified that Trudeau and Boissonnault both came to an agreement that the minister will be stepping away from his ministerial duties effectively immediately to “focus on clearing the allegations made against him.”

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Veterans Affairs Minister Ginette Petitpas Taylor will temporarily assume responsibility for Boissonnault’s portfolios of employment and official languages in addition to her current duties as minister of veterans affairs and associate minister of national defence, read the note.

Boissonnault has referred to himself as a “non-status adopted Cree” and claimed that his great-grandmother was a “full-blooded Cree woman” in the past but those claims are untrue. He has since clarified that his great-grandmother’s family in fact had Métis lineage.

He apologized last week for not having been “clear” about his family’s links to Indigenous ancestry and said he was learning about his family’s heritage in “real time.”

Boissonnault has also been under fire for co-owning a company that claimed to be Indigenous-owned while bidding on federal contracts, although he said that claim was made without his knowledge, and that company did not successfully qualify as an Indigenous supplier.

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In a statement, the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) said it was “deeply troubled” by the allegations regarding Boissonnault’s former company’s attempt to bid on contracts reserved for Indigenous businesses and said it was a “teachable moment.”

AFN National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak said the Liberal government “took the necessary steps to correct this matter,” adding that “those who misrepresent Indigenous status should face consequences.”

“Misrepresentation harms the integrity of Indigenous identity and is disrespectful to the experiences of First Nations people who face systemic barriers tied to their identities. It also undermines the progress we have worked so hard to achieve,” she said.

Métis NDP MP Blake Desjarlais, who called for Boissonnault’s resignation from cabinet, said this is “welcome news for Indigenous people right across the country.”

Desjarlais, who represents an Edmonton riding near Boissonnault’s, said there were growing suspicions in his community about shifting claims that the now former minister had made about his ties to Indigenous ancestry for nearly a decade.

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“When Indigenous people hear this, they ask, ‘Well, you said you’re a Cree, so is that true? Where are you from?’ That’s how Indigenous people operate. We love to connect with one another. We want to figure out who we are but found barriers when trying to ask him those questions,” he said.

Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet also welcomed the news of Boissonnault’s resignation, saying that “what had to happen finally happened.” He said the government could not afford to keep such a “distraction” in its cabinet in light of the allegations.

Conservatives had no immediate reaction to Boissonnault resigning, as it was announced just before question period on Wednesday. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre spent his time blasting Trudeau for not firing his minister earlier.

Prior to the announcement on Wednesday, Liberal MPs offered varying levels of support for their embattled colleague — with some saying he should stay on, some deferring that decision to Trudeau and at least one other saying that Boissonnault should clear the air.

When asked if Boissonnault should stay in cabinet, Jaime Battiste, chair of the Liberal Indigenous caucus said “that’s a decision for the Prime Minister, not me.”

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Vance Badawey, who is also a part of the party’s Indigenous caucus, said Boissonnault is the one who should be answering questions about his own heritage.

“He’s a big boy. He’s got his big boy pants on,” he said.

Liberal MP Ken Hardie said that, as a former broadcaster, his advice to Boissonnault would be to have a roundtable with reporters and answer all of their questions. Instead, in recent days, Boissonnault has made blanket statements that allegations against him were false.

“If I was giving him communication advice, I would ask him to be a little bit more fulsome … in response to the character assassination from the Conservatives,” said Hardie.

Others, like Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault, came to Boissonnault’s defence, arguing that he made a mistake and that it “happens to all of us.”

Liberal MP Anthony Housefather said Boissonnault “has every right to remain in cabinet” — pointing to the help the minister offered in standing up against a recent health care directive from the Quebec government that would have affected English speakers.

“My community cares about getting our services in our minority language, and he’s done a good job on that,” he said about Boissonnault’s work as minister of official languages.

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— With files from Stephanie Taylor and Christopher Nardi.

National Post
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