Contracts and indigenous identity | Conservatives call on Minister Boissonnault to resign

(Ottawa) MPs returned to Ottawa on Monday after a week-long break with no sign of resolving the impasse in the House. Tempers ran hot and there were new calls for a Liberal minister to resign — or be fired.

The House of Commons has been mired in parliamentary filibuster for nearly two months now, as Conservatives demand the government hand over documents to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) in a case of alleged government embezzlement in a technology fund green.

This continued on Monday, but during question period, the Conservatives’ attention was focused on Employment Minister Randy Boissonnault, who apologized three days ago for not having been more clear about his indigenous identity.

He has previously described himself as an “adopted Cree without status” and said his great-grandmother was a “full-blooded Cree woman.”

He said he would confirm his great-grandmother’s status, but that his mother and brother are citizens of the Métis Nation of Alberta. “I apologize if this particular way of referring to myself — I apologize if it was inaccurate,” Mr. Boissonnault said at an event in Edmonton on November 15.

The National Post also reported last week that a company Mr. Boissonnault co-owned failed to bid for two federal contracts in 2020 while identifying as Indigenous and owned by Indigenous people.

In the House of Commons on Monday, seven different Conservative MPs asked Mr. Boissonnault more than a dozen questions on the subject, who in turn provided short answers denying the allegations.

“He said he was Aboriginal so he could get grants and contracts intended only for Aboriginal people. Now he admits that he is not indigenous at all,” Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said Monday.

“He said he was Indigenous to take advantage of government contracts, trying to steal from First Nations communities. When will the Prime Minister fire this faker for making false claims of theft to First Nations? » added Alberta Conservative MP Garnett Genuis, in one of several questions that prompted an interjection from Speaker Greg Fergus about word choice.

“My colleague addressed this issue and said these assertions were false,” Government House Leader Karina Gould said in response to Mr. Genuis.

“We addressed the fact that this company was never listed as an Indigenous business on the procurement site and in fact did not receive any funding from the Government of Canada. »

Outside the House of Commons before question period, other Liberal MPs also came to Mr. Boissonnault’s defense, including Jaime Battiste, the party’s only First Nations MP.

“For me, there was never a need to apologize because I always saw him as an Indigenous ally, not as an Indigenous person,” Mr. Batiste said, adding that Mr. Boissonnault called personally to discuss the situation.

“But for others who he may have mistakenly told he was Indigenous, then yes [des excuses] could probably be useful to them. »

Speaking to reporters outside the West Block, Conservative MP Michael Barrett called on Minister Boissonnault to resign.

“Justin Trudeau does not appear to have the moral legitimacy necessary to be able to discipline members of his cabinet or his caucus,” Mr. Barrett said.

“Randy Boissonnault should resign. And if Justin Trudeau doesn’t fire him, well, when we have an election on the carbon tax, Canadians will pass judgment on this government. »