When a minister of the Crown becomes a laughingstock in Parliament it’s time for him to go.
After months of being under fire over his Indigenous ancestry and his personal business dealings, scandal-plagued Employment Minister Randy Boissonnault finally quit Wednesday.
Justin Trudeau and Boissonnault agreed that the minister should step away from cabinet immediately, said the Prime Minister’s Office, so that Boissonnault could “focus on clearing the allegations made against him.”
It was Boissonnault who was ridiculed, shamed and called in Parliament a liar, a fake and a fraud, but it was Trudeau who was increasingly seen as being weak in failing to get to grips with a scandal spiralling out of control.
One of the latest revelations concerning Boissonnault is that the medical-supply company he co-owns shared a post office box with a woman who twice had run-ins with the law over major cocaine busts.
Boissonnault’s office told National Post he never knew the woman, who was never charged in connection with the alleged crimes.
Boissonnault has also been under investigation because while he was a cabinet minister his former business partner texted “Randy” about business matters. Boissonnault claims he had no dealings with his business partner after becoming a minister in keeping with conflict of interest rules.
This mysterious “other Randy” has never been identified.
In Parliament this week, Conservative MP Michael Barrett referred to “cocaine Randy” and was called out by the Liberals for using unparliamentary language of a government minister.
But to huge laughter in the House, Barrett said, “I’m sure I was referring to the other Randy as cocaine Randy.”
Being mocked by the Official Opposition is one thing, but having a Liberal cabinet minister ridiculed by large parts of the House may have finally caused Trudeau to act.
Barrett was one of three Conservatives kicked out of the House on Tuesday by Speaker Greg Fergus over unparliamentary language.
Also ousted were Michelle Rempel Garner (for calling Boissonnault a “fraud”) and Rick Perkins who referred to a “corrupt” member of Parliament.
Andrew Scheer fell foul of the Speaker for calling Boissonnault a “fake” and accusing him of “lying.”
Under Speaker’s orders, Scheer withdrew the word “lying” but asked that fake be replaced with “sham,” “imitation” or “counterfeit.”
The Speaker later allowed the word fake.
As the National Post has detailed, Boissonnault faces allegations of being a “fake” over claims to Indigenous ancestry.
Boissonnault — who told a meeting in 2021 that he was known as “Strong Eagle Man in the Cree community” — claimed that his great-grandmother was “a full-blooded Cree woman.”
Turns out she wasn’t.
This has come as a surprise to Boissonnault who said he was learning “in real time” about his heritage.
It’s a pity his belated education didn’t come earlier as it might have stopped his company being listed as indigenous-owned while bidding on federal contracts and might have prevented his own party from touting him as an Indigenous MP.
Boissonnault would have us believe it’s all a bit of a mix-up, he’s terribly sorry and he never actually claimed to be Indigenous.
But the whole affair is terribly embarrassing for a Liberal party who claims the Indigenous file is one of its signature policy issues. Is this also fake?
If only Trudeau had a strong, independent, forceful, honourable and proud Indigenous minister to give him advice.
Of course, there’s no guarantee he’d take it as Jody Wilson-Raybould, the ex-attorney general and Justice Minister, can attest. She was withering in her criticism of Trudeau and Boissonnault on X, formerly Twitter.
“A Prime Minister committed to true reconciliation would have removed Randy (and the other Randy) from Cabinet long ago,” she tweeted. “Instead we get to watch white people play ancestry wheel of fortune.”
Wilson-Raybould, who was kicked out of cabinet and caucus by the prime minister for refusing to allow Trudeau to play fast and loose with the rules governing independent prosecutorial decisions, added, “So shameful and extremely destructive.”
Calls for Boissonnault to resign had been growing of late, but Trudeau showed no signs of forcing him out.
While at the G20 summit in Brazil, Trudeau was asked whether he had confidence in Boissonnault in light of the stream of allegations against him.
The prime minister said he was “happy” to see Boissonnault leading on jobs and employment, but steered well clear of commenting on his Indigenous heritage.
Twenty-four hours later, the prime minister was not as happy as he thought and Boissonnault was gone, from cabinet anyway.
The now ex-employment minister should have realized a lot sooner that he was a major distraction to the government’s agenda and stepped down. That was his failure.
The prime minister should have acted more quickly and decisively but instead allowed the Boissonnault drama to fester and foment and allow a minister to become the butt of parliamentary jokes. That was his failure.
But if Trudeau is hoping to get some relief from Boissonnault quitting he is going to be sorely mistaken.
There are plenty more scandals on the horizon — the “green slush fund,” for instance, or the Liberals blowing past a self-imposed fiscal guardrail or the monumental immigration blunder.
The Conservatives have scented blood and it is Trudeau who is going to be hounded.
National Post