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

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

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."

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.