new scandal for the government, a minister of Justin Trudeau resigns

Randy Boissonnault, in charge of Employment, “is withdrawing from the government with immediate effect (…) to concentrate on dispelling the allegations made against him”, declared the Prime Minister's office in a terse press release this Wednesday 20 november.

The Canadian Minister of Employment resigned this Wednesday, November 20 after several days of controversy, causing a new scandal for the already politically weakened government of Justin Trudeau.

This announcement marks a complete turnaround on the part of Justin Trudeau, who had initially defended Randy Boissonnault against the opposition, who accused him of having falsely claimed indigenous roots for personal benefit.

The Liberal Party in difficulty

The situation is all the more embarrassing for Justin Trudeau, recently abandoned by his left-wing ally in Parliament, as he made the issue of ties with the First Peoples one of the priorities of his mandate.

In power for nine years, the latter's Liberal Party has suffered political setbacks since this summer and all polls give Pierre Poilievre's conservative opposition a 20-point lead, while elections must be held between now and the end of October 2025.

Randy Boissonnault has been under fire since the publication of a National Post article which revealed that the company Global Health Imports which he co-owns responded to a public call for tenders in 2020 by claiming to be an Indigenous company.

He explained in 2018 that his great-grandmother was a “pure Cree woman”, a statement he repeated on several occasions. On Friday, he apologized for creating confusion about his lineage, saying he never claimed to be indigenous.

In Canada, belonging to an indigenous group allows access to certain assistance. In addition, the Trudeau government has set itself the objective of annually granting at least 5% of the total value of all public contracts to Indigenous businesses.