Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Jacques, for your opening statement.
I'll read from the National Post:
Cabinet minister's Cree great-grandmother claims were untrue, records show
For years, Employment Minister Randy Boissonnault spoke in Parliament and at public events of his great-grandmother as “a full-blooded Cree woman.”
The 54-year-old minister apologized last week for not having been “clear” about his heritage [but] he was often showcased by the Liberal party as an Indigenous MP.
The article goes on:
Questions surrounding Boissonnault's heritage emerged following a National Post report revealing that the business he co-owned called itself fully “Indigenous” and “Aboriginal-owned” as it tried to bid on federal contracts reserved for Indigenous businesses.
To me, it's terrible that anyone, let alone a sitting NDP-Liberal minister, would impersonate an indigenous person.
I see that your own community, the Abenaki community, has been battling indigenous impersonations, as well.