EDMONTON — Canada's Employment Minister Randy Boissonnault apologized Friday, after shifting claims about his Indigenous identity came under scrutiny.
The Liberal member of Parliament said at an unrelated announcement in Edmonton that he's sorry he hadn't been clear, "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."
Boissonnault 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 former 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 for what it calls serious allegations of fraud.
On Friday, two Conservative candidates in Edmonton called on Boissonnault to resign.
Sayid Ahmed and Billy Morin, also a former chief of Enoch Cree Nation, said in a statement that Boissonnault's claim to be Indigenous has been widely debunked and there are still questions about his business dealings.
"Boissonnault claimed to identify as Indigenous in order to benefit from programs designed to support Indigenous people and line his own pockets. He finally said he’s sorry for faking his identity, but he’s just sorry he got caught,” said Morin.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre reiterated that call in a post on social media.
"Fake Indigenous Liberal minister makes a fake apology after getting caught making up fake stories about his heritage to get contracts from a government of which he is a minister," the post said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 15, 2024.
Lisa Johnson, The Canadian Press