Some Indigenous leaders are now supporting calls for Employment Minister Randy Boissonneau to resign over contradictory claims about his family’s origins.
Mr. Boissonneau speaks about his family’s Indigenous heritage; suspicion His former company, Global Health Imports (GHI), claimed to be “Indigenous-owned” when bidding for federal contracts in 2020, the company said.
Since being re-elected in 2021, he has denied any involvement in the business, saying his former business partner Stephen Anderson (GHI chief operating officer) did not consent to it to “advance personal interests.” He claimed to have worked in
Joanna Barnard, AFN regional leader for New Brunswick, told CBC. power and politics On Tuesday, she said she believed Mr. Boissonneau should resign in light of his contradictory statements about his family’s legacy.
“If someone was doing something for him, he should have been aware of it,” Bernard said. “Ignorance is no excuse and I think 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 may identify as Métis,” she said. “We need accountability and transparency around these contracts to ensure that the people who get these contracts are truly Métis people and truly Indigenous.”
Boissonneau has stated several times that his great-grandmother was a Cree woman. Census records indicate she was Metis.
that story First reported by the National Post.
On November 8, Boissonneau spoke to the media: statement that his “adoptive mother and brother” are of Métis status;
The Edmonton MP has never claimed to be Indigenous. But others, including the Liberal Party, are asserting Indigenous identity on his behalf.
Boissonneau spokeswoman Alice Hansen said in a media statement Tuesday that the employment minister “has said what he believed to be accurate throughout his life.”
“As recent reports have revealed, it appears that the minister’s understanding of his own family heritage was inaccurate,” Hansen said. “This information came as a surprise to the Minister, who apologized for not being as clear as he had hoped.”
Edmonton Center MP Blake Desjarlais, a New Democrat of Cree-Métis descent, told reporters Tuesday that Boissonneau was making decisions related to First Nations life with uncertainty about his ties to the country and that he was “not a minister.” He must resign.”
Desjarlais’ statement is the first time an NDP member has called for Boissonneau’s resignation.
NDP MPs say Employment Minister Randy Boissonneau should resign from cabinet over questions about his past business dealings and Indigenous heritage claims. Blake Desjarlais told reporters that the “sham” was hurting Indigenous business owners and that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was not taking those concerns seriously by allowing Boissonneau to remain in his cabinet.
“If he does not resign, it is the prime minister’s duty to get rid of such a person,” Desjarlais said.
During questioning, Conservative MP Andrew Scheer cited social media posts by former federal justice minister Jody Wilson-Raybould, a descendant of the Msugamagwu Tswatainuki family and member of British Columbia’s Wee Wai Kai Nation. was read into the record.
During question period on Tuesday, Government Opposition Leader Andrew Scheer called on Employment Minister Randy Boissonnaud to resign following reports that the former medical supply company shared a letterbox with a woman detained in a drug raid. . Boissonneau said he did not know the people named in the article.
On Tuesday, Wilson-Raybould said Boissonneau’s claims about her Indigenous identity were “shameful and extremely destructive.”
“A truly pro-reconciliation prime minister would have removed Randy (and the other Randy) from his cabinet long ago,” she wrote to X. “Instead, we can see white people playing out the wheel of fortune of their ancestors.”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau exiled Wilson-Raybould and Dr. Jane Philpott of the Liberal Party Caucus in 2019. SNC-Lavalin incidentafter saying the trust between them and the Liberal Party was “broken”.
“I’m glad this is happening,” Trudeau said at the G20 summit in Brazil earlier Tuesday. [Boissonnault] He continues to lead on employment and employment issues and represents Alberta in government. ”
Bloc Quebecois Leader Yves-François Blanchet also told CBC News on Tuesday that he doesn’t think the Edmonton MP should resign over the issue.
After questioning on Tuesday, House of Commons Speaker Greg Fergus told Conservative MPs Michelle Rempel Garner, Michael Barrett and Rick Perkins their remaining seats after they refused to retract their comments that breached order and decorum. asked him to leave the House of Commons.
Speaker Greg Fergus has called on Conservative MP Michelle Rempel Garner to withdraw the word “fraud” from her opening remarks about Employment Minister Randy Boissonneau. Rempel Garner said she had quoted a Cree lawyer and did not retract it. Mr Fergus then asked her to leave the House on Tuesday and withdraw from other House business. Rempel Garner was one of three Conservative MPs removed from the House of Commons on Tuesday.
Rempel Garner called Boissonneau a “fraud” but said she was quoting a Cree lawyer quoted in the National Post article.
Mr Barrett referred to ‘Cocaine Randy’, a reference to the minister’s former company. share mailbox A woman arrested in a drug investigation.
Perkins was singled out and expelled for not fully retracting his statements about “corrupt” members. Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poièvre’s office said Perkins was briefing Environment Minister Stephen Guilbeault.
