Nov 21, 2024
Before he resigned from cabinet on Wednesday afternoon, Edmonton Centre MP and Employment Minister Randy Boissonnault admitted he was not Indigenous. He insisted he had misspoken, that he hadn’t been clear enough about his ancestry, which elsewhere he has also claimed was Belgian.
It’s an easy mistake to make, mixing up the Cree and Belgian nations. I’m sure there are a lot of similarities, although none pop into mind at the moment.
I see two big offences in Boissonnault’s behaviour since questions about his lineage came to light earlier this month. One is his insistence that he never claimed to be Indigenous. And the other is his claim that he didn’t know his business partner had listed their medical supplies company as “Indigenous owned” in an effort to win federal contracts set aside for Indigenous companies.