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Employment minister Randy Boissonnault admits there has been some ‘confusion’ after he originally claimed Cree ancestry
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A Canadian minister who referred to himself as “Strong Eagle Man” has resigned from his role after being accused of faking having indigenous heritage.
Randy Boissonnault, who was named as employment minister last year, had faced calls to resign over apparently conflicting versions of his ancestry.
His stake in a company that claimed to be indigenous-owned is also under scrutiny for bidding on federal contracts set aside for indigenous businesses.
Mr Boissonnault will resign immediately to “focus on clearing the allegations made against him,” the office for Justin Trudeau, Canada’s prime minister, said in a statement.
The Liberal MP, a former member of his party’s indigenous caucus, has apologised for the “confusion” about his ancestry, and insisted that he had never claimed to be indigenous.
He also said that he had not consented to his business partners claiming their company was indigenous-owned.
Three Conservatives were asked to leave the House of Commons on Tuesday for unparliamentary language towards Mr Boissonnault, after they variously labelled him a “fraud”, “fake” and “corrupt”.
Blake Desjarlais, an indigenous MP, accused Mr Boissonnault of “pretendianism” – a term which means falsely claiming indigenous ancestry for personal gain.
Don Davies, a New Democrat MP, said Mr Trudeau should have already removed him from the Cabinet and claimed that the prime minister lacked a “strong ethical compass”.
Jody Wilson-Raybould, a former Liberal minister, wrote on social media: “A prime minister committed to true reconciliation would have removed Randy from Cabinet long ago.
“Instead, we get to watch white people play ancestry wheel of fortune.”
Mr Boissonnault has referred to himself as a “non-status adopted Cree”, one of the biggest indigenous tribes in Canada, and claimed that his great-grandmother was a “full-blooded Cree woman”. He once claimed that his indigenous name was “Strong Eagle Man”,
He has subsequently said that his great-grandmother’s family instead had Métis heritage, which is a separate tribe.
Mr Boissonnault apologised last week for not being “clear” about his heritage, which he said he was learning about in “real time”, Canadian media reported.
He added that he had left the Liberal indigenous caucus in 2021, having joined to represent the large urban indigenous population in his constituency.
A spokesman for Mr Boissonnault told Canadian media that the former minister declared himself a “non-status adopted Cree” after it was suggested by an indigenous researcher.
“It was an explanation of his adoptive family’s indigenous history as they understood it at the time,” she said.
It comes after Mr Trudeau has tried to build bridges with Canada’s 600 indigenous tribes, formally apologising for past mistreatment and earmarking billions of dollars for indigenous communities.
But he has also faced criticism for firing Canada’s first indigenous justice minister in 2019 after a falling out.
Ginette Petitpas Taylor, the veterans affairs minister, will temporarily assume Mr Boissonnault’s responsibilities following his resignation.
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