Trudeau defends Boissonault as minister faces calls to resign over business ties, Indigenous heritage controversy

Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Official Languages Randy Boissonnault takes questions from reporters before a meeting of the Liberal caucus on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Oct. 9.Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has defended Employment Minister Randy Boissonault, who is facing calls from the Conservatives and the NDP to resign after the minister apologized for not being clear about his family’s Indigenous heritage.

During his time outside of politics, GHI described itself as an Indigenous company in a 2020 bid for a government contract to supply face masks, according to a National Post report earlier this month. “Minister Boissonault has addressed these and will continue to answer directly for those. In the meantime, I’m happy that he is continuing to lead on issues around jobs and employment, and represent Alberta and our government,” the Prime Minister told reporters in Rio de Janeiro, where he is attending meetings of the G20.

The Liberal Party’s Indigenous Peoples’ Commission issued a news release in 2015 praising the election of eight “Indigenous Liberal candidates,” listing Mr. Boissonault among them. The, Mr. Boissonault described himself as a non-status adopted Cree from Alberta and said his great-grandmother “was a full-blooded Cree woman.”

Alice Hansen, a spokesperson for the minister, said in an e-mail Tuesday that the minister’s own understanding of his great-grandmother’s lineage was inaccurate and that this came as a surprise to him.Jody Wilson-Raybould, who became the first Indigenous justice minister in 2015 and later resigned from cabinet and was expelled from the Liberal caucus over a disagreement with Mr. Trudeau related to SNC-Lavalin, said the Prime Minister should have removed Mr.

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