OTTAWA — Employment Minister Randy Boissonnault is stepping down from cabinet after revelations from the National Post that he had made shifting statements over his ties to Indigenous heritage over the course of his political career.
A note sent by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s office on Wednesday specified that Trudeau and Boissonnault both came to an agreement that the minister will be stepping away from his ministerial duties effectively immediately to “focus on clearing the allegations made against him.”
Veterans Affairs Minister Ginette Petitpas Taylor will temporarily assume responsibility for Boissonnault’s portfolios of employment and official languages in addition to her current duties as minister of veterans affairs and associate minister of national defence, read the note.
Boissonnault has referred to himself as a “non-status adopted Cree” and claimed that his great-grandmother was a “full-blooded Cree woman” in the past but those claims are untrue. He has since clarified that his great-grandmother’s family in fact had Metis lineage.
He apologized last week for not having been “clear” about his family’s links to Indigenous ancestry and said he was learning about his family’s heritage in “real time.”
Boissonnault has also been under fire for co-owning a company that claimed to be Indigenous-owned while bidding on federal contracts, although he said that claim was made without his knowledge, and that company did not successfully qualify as an Indigenous supplier.
On Wednesday, Liberal MPs offered varying levels of support for their embattled colleague.
When asked if Boissonnault should stay in cabinet, Jaime Battiste, chair of the Liberal Indigenous caucus — said “that’s a decision for the prime minister, not me.”
Others said Boissonnault is the one who should be answering questions about his own heritage.
“He’s a big boy. He’s got his big boy pants on,” said Vance Badawey, who is also a part of the party’s Indigenous caucus.
Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault came to Boissonnault’s defense, arguing that he made a mistake and that it “happens to all of us.”
More details to follow…
National Post
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