Canada’s Employment Minister Randy Boissonneau has apologized after his changes to his Indigenous identity claims came under scrutiny.
The Liberal MP said Friday in an unrelated announcement in Edmonton that he regretted not being as clear as he would have liked “about everything I know now.”
“I apologize for not being clear enough about myself and my family’s history,” he said, adding that he was still learning about his family’s heritage “in real time.”
Boissonneau previously described herself as an “adoptive Cree with no status” and said her great-grandmother was a “full-blooded Cree woman.”
He said Friday that he would need to confirm the status of his great-grandmother, but that his mother and siblings are Métis citizens of Alberta.
“I apologize if I referred to myself in such a particular way. I apologize for the inaccuracy.”
This comes after the National Post reported that Boissonneau’s co-owned company unsuccessfully bid on two federal contracts in 2020 while identifying itself as First Nations and Aboriginal-owned. .
The government has committed to awarding 5 per cent of procurement contracts to indigenous-owned businesses.
Since this article was published last week, Boissonneau has maintained that his adopted family has Indigenous ancestry and that his adoptive mother and brother are Métis.
Boissonneau said Friday he never claimed Indigenous status to his business partner Stephen Anderson.
“Mr. Anderson should not have made such claims regarding the specific contract application, and the contract was not entered into,” he said.
Boissonneau, who previously served as a member of the Free Indigenous Caucus, said he joined as an ally to represent the many Indigenous peoples in the community.
When asked about the Liberal Party’s past claims about his Indigenous identity, he said he had called on the party to correct and change statements as soon as they were made aware.
“I have never asked the party to call me Indigenous. I have never clicked a box in any way in the Liberal Party. I have never asked the party to call me Indigenous. “We have never included indigenous claims in our books,” he said. Said.
The Conservatives said they wanted Boissonneau to testify before the ethics committee so he could “answer honestly to these serious allegations of misconduct.”
Conservative MP Michael Barrett said: “This is even more urgent in light of new allegations that his company fraudulently claimed to be Indigenous-owned when applying for government contracts. ” he said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 15, 2024.
