Photo: Adrian Wyld The Canadian Press Randy Boissonnault was at the centre of a complex scandal involving his former equipment company and his shifting statements about his Indigenous identity.
After a meeting with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Randy Boissonnault lost his job as federal minister of employment, workforce development and official languages on Wednesday.
“The Prime Minister and MP Randy Boissonnault have agreed that Mr. Boissonnault will step down from Cabinet effective immediately. Mr. Boissonnault will focus on getting to the bottom of the allegations against him,” the Prime Minister's Office said in a press release.
Minister Ginette Petitpas Taylor will temporarily assume her ministerial responsibilities, in addition to her Veterans Affairs portfolio and role as Associate Minister of National Defence.
Randy Boissonnault was at the centre of a complex scandal that stemmed from a medical protective equipment company he started during the COVID-19 pandemic, during a hiatus from politics between terms as MP for Edmonton Centre in the House of Commons. Boissonnault was defeated in the 2019 election, before being re-elected in 2021.
Embarrassing business past
Text messages leaked by media outlets showed that his former business partner had alluded to meetings with someone named “Randy” while Boissonnault was a cabinet minister. In recent months, the Conservatives have insisted on knowing the identity of this “other Randy,” in order to poke fun at the minister. The main person concerned claims to be unaware of who is being discussed and to have nothing more to do with his former company.
A new chapter in the scandal arose when the daily newspaper National Postrevealed that the company, called Global Health Import, had previously falsely represented itself as an Indigenous business. The designation, which was not granted, would have helped it land more government contracts. Boissonnault maintains that he did not consent to his former company being labelled as Indigenous.
200% Deposit Bonus up to €3,000 180% First Deposit Bonus up to $20,000As if all that were not enough, Boissonnault’s shifting statements about his Indigenous identity resurfaced, adding to the scandal that took up all the space during Tuesday’s chaotic question period.
Alberta NDP MP Blake Desjarlais, himself Métis, called him a “pretender” on Wednesday.”), a derogatory term used to describe people who claim to be Indigenous in order to obtain privileges. He had joined the Conservatives in demanding the minister's dismissal the day before.
Disputed Indigenous identity
Randy Boissonnault had already defended himself at a press conference on Friday, specifying that he had never claimed Indigenous status, but had been adopted into an Indigenous family. “I apologize for the way I referred to myself. I am learning about my own heritage. I will continue this journey with Canadians,” he had declared.
Randy Boissonnault now clarifies that he is not Indigenous, but that his adopted family is of Métis ancestry. He had instead identified himself as “non-status adopted Cree” in the House of Commons during his first term in the Commons. For example, he said his great-grandmother was “a full-blooded Cree woman.” He was then attending meetings of the Liberal Party's Indigenous caucus.
He said his involvement was justified not by his identity, but by the fact that many Indigenous people live in his riding of Edmonton Centre, which overlaps the downtown core of the Alberta capital.
“The Prime Minister was aware that the minister in question had run his business while he was in cabinet, and that he had said he had a false Indigenous identity,” Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said in the House on Wednesday. Justin Trudeau replied that Mr. Boissonnault, now out of cabinet, would “focus on his defense against these allegations.”
Adventure ended in cabinet
Franco-Albertan Randy Boissonnault was first elected in October 2015, in the election that brought Justin Trudeau’s Liberals to power. An openly gay man himself, he serves as the Prime Minister’s special advisor to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and two-spirit (LGBTQ+) communities.
Le Devoir also revealed that Mr. Boissonnault had presented himself as a “journalist” during the 2015 and 2019 elections, although he had never signed any journalistic articles. The Fédération professionnelle des journalistes du Québec called his claim “morally questionable.”
Randy Boissonnault ran again in the 2021 election, in which he made no reference to his duties as a “journalist.” He was re-elected with 33.7% of the vote, narrowly ahead of his Conservative and NDP opponents. Only one other Liberal candidate was elected in the entire province of Alberta.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau rewarded him by appointing him to the Cabinet table. Initially Minister of Tourism, he was moved to the portfolios of Employment, Workforce Development and Official Languages in a major cabinet reshuffle in the summer of 2023.