Randy Boissonnault apologizes for his vagueness about his indigenous identity | Indigenous identity, a complex issue

Federal Employment Minister Randy Boissonnault has apologized to Indigenous communities for being unclear about his identity following allegations that his former company claimed to be Indigenous-owned when bidding for federal contracts in 2020.

Mr. Boissonnault saw fit to dispel the confusion regarding its origins due to doubts raised by the media.

The minister has never explicitly said he is Indigenous, but has repeatedly said his great-grandmother being a Cree woman, said he was given a Cree name in 2021, spoke out in Cree at least twice during parliamentary debates and identified himself as a Cry adopted without status.

Mr. Boissonnault defines himself today as a person adopted by an indigenous familybut who has never claimed Aboriginal status within the meaning of the Act, he explained to journalists on the sidelines of an announcement on housing in Edmonton.

I apologize for the way I referred to myself. I am learning about my own heritage [héréditaire] and I will continue this journey with the Canadians.

I thought long and hard […] and I should have been clearer about my family history with everything I know nowhe added.

His former company presented as indigenous

The origin of Randy Boissonnault has been the subject of a media storm since the publication last week of a report from National Postaccording to which the medical supplies company he co-founded, Global Health Imports (GHI), had identified herself as Indigenous-owned during a call for tenders for a federal contract in June 2020.

The federal government tells potential suppliers that they can identify themselves as indigenous only if they are on an official list of businesses eligible for programs that favor Indigenous-owned businesses. TAKE NOTE is not on this list.

Mr. Boissonnault denies having claimed indigenous status to advantage his former company in calls for tenders and adds that he never asked his business partner to register the company as such. Moreover, TAKE NOTE did not win this call for tenders.

I have never claimed indigenous status in a contract.

This is not the first time that TAKE NOTE is the subject of controversy.

Canada’s Ethics Commissioner had investigated text messages between the former business partner at Global Health Imports (GHI), Stephen Anderson, and the director of the American company The Ghaoui Group. The text messages name a certain Randybut the minister denies that these messages refer to him.

The conservative opposition demanded that the identity of the other Randy was made public, but this person’s last name was never disclosed.

Ministers are not authorized to engage in the management or operation of any business or commercial activity.

Mr. Boissonnault was cleared by the preliminary investigation by the Ethics Commissioner of Canada, but the Conservatives remained doubtful and promised to continue their own investigation.

Another ethics investigation, demand conservatives

Asked to react, the official opposition demanded that Randy Boissonnault testifies again before the ethics committeereplied MP Michael Barrett, ethics spokesperson for the Conservative Party of Canada. The party will expand its investigations to multiple committees so that it can respond to serious allegations of fraud.

Randy Boissonnault must shed light on his company which is the source of numerous scandals.

For his part, the head of NPDJagmeet Singh, indicated that as minister, Mr. Boissonnault should not be involved in businessadding that the changing stories about his indigenous heritage fuel the skepticism of the New Democrats.

There is a lot of questionable behavior on the part of the minister and I think Canadians deserve better.

Randy Boissonnault said last week that his brother and mother were now mixed race, while he later described his family’s origins as Cree, which does nothing to clear up the confusion.

What’s more, the indigenous researcher the minister says he consulted in 2015 on how to identify explains that he did not approve of the term Cry adopted without status that Mr. Boissonnault used to introduce himself for years, according to the National Post.

Long presented as an Aboriginal person by the PLC

In 2015, the Liberal Party’s Indigenous Peoples Commission – an internal party group that promotes the interests of the party’s Indigenous members – nominated Mr. Boissonnault as one of 10 Indigenous Liberal candidates elected to the House of Commons.

Four years later, the Liberal Party sent a clarification indicating that Mr. Boissonnault did not claim indigenous heritage. The party then declared that the information was due to a staff error.

Mr. Boissonnault said he stopped sitting with the Indigenous Liberal parliamentary group when he joined cabinet in 2021. He clarified that when he previously sat with this group, it was as ally.

Randy Boissonnault was first elected as MP for Edmonton Center in 2015, then re-elected in 2021.

With information from CBC News a you National Post