'Wasn't as clear as I could have been': Boissonnault sorry for Indigenous claims

Employment, Workforce Development and Official Languages Minister Randy Boissonnault rises during Question Period, Friday, October 25, 2024 in Ottawa. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

Canada's Employment Minister Randy Boissonnault is apologizing after shifting claims about his Indigenous identity came under scrutiny.

The Liberal member of Parliament said at an unrelated announcement in Edmonton on Friday that he's sorry he wasn't as clear as he could have been "with everything that I know now."

"I apologize that I wasn't as clear as I could have been about who I am and my family's history,” he said, adding that he's still learning about his family's heritage "in real time."

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Boissonnault has previously referred to himself as "non-status adopted Cree" and said his great-grandmother was a "full-blooded Cree woman."

He said Friday he'll have to confirm his great-grandmother's status, but his mother and brother are citizens of the Métis Nation of Alberta.

"I apologize if that particular way of referring to myself — I apologize that it was inaccurate."

It comes after the National Post reported that a company co-owned by Boissonnault unsuccessfully bid on two federal contracts in 2020 while identifying itself as Indigenous and Aboriginal-owned.

The government has pledged to award five per cent of its procurement contracts to Indigenous-owned businesses.

Since that story’s publication last week, Boissonnault has said the family he was adopted into has Indigenous ancestry and his adopted mother and brother are status Métis.

Boissonnault said Friday he never claimed any Indigenous status to his business partner, Stephen Anderson.

"Mr. Anderson should never have claimed that on the particular contract application, and no contract was awarded," he said.

Boissonnault has previously sat as a member of the Liberal Indigenous Caucus, but he said he joined it as an ally representing many Indigenous people in his community.

When asked about the Liberals' past claims about his Indigenous identity, he said he corrected the party and asked for the descriptions to be changed as soon as he became aware.

"I never asked the party to refer to me as an Indigenous person. I never clicked any box in any form with the Liberal party. I have never put (an) Indigenous claim to any contract or any application in my entire life," he said.

The Conservative party has said it wants Boissonnault to testify before the ethics committee so he can “answer truthfully for these serious allegations of fraud.”

"This is even more urgent given the new allegations that his company fraudulently claimed to be Indigenous-owned while applying for government contracts," said Conservative MP Michael Barrett.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 15, 2024.