Randy Boissonnault apologizes over Indigenous heritage claims
https://tnc.news/2024/11/16/randy-boissonnault-apologizes-over-indigenous-heritage-claims/
Employment Minister Randy Boissonnault said that after “reflecting on this a lot over the past days” he “unequivocally” apologizes for not being “clear” about alluding to having an Indigenous heritage.
“I was adopted into an Indigenous family, and I have never claimed Indigenous status,” Boisonnault told reporters in Ottawa on Friday.
His apology comes after an Indigenous researcher that Boissionault claimed told him he was “non-status adopted Cree” refuted his claim.
“I sought out advice to know how to talk about my family when I was running, and I want to say unequivocally that I apologize for not being as clear about my family history as I could have been with everything that I know now,” said Boissonnault.
The president of the Metis nation had also come forward to say that the members of Boissonnault’s adoptive family agree that the cabinet minister wouldn’t qualify for citizenship under its rules.
Assistant professor of political science at the University of Toronto and member of the Michi Saagiig Nishnaabeg Nation Chadwick Cowie was the expert who Boissonnault said informed of his status.
However, after being contacted by the National Post regarding Boissonault’s ever-changing identity claims, Cowie responded by saying, “I would not say that I gave him the term that he was ‘non-status adopted Cree.’”
“I would have worded it differently,” added Cowie. “I would have said that he was adopted to a family that had Cree lineage.” Continue…