The Randy Boissonnault saga shows why identity politics and federal contracts shouldn’t mix
It takes more than your average scandal to get a cabinet minister removed from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government. His tolerance for conflicts of interest and suspect dealings seems ever higher, as though negatively correlated to his near-zero tolerance for independent thought.
But Randy Boissonnault, the now-former Employment minister, finally managed this practically unheard-of feat. On Wednesday, Trudeau announced Boissonnault would “step away from cabinet effective immediately.” This comes after months of scrutiny on his former business Global Health Imports (GHI), which claimed to be “Indigenous-owned” in bids for federal contracts even as Boissonnault’s Indigenous heritage claims shifted wildly.
The saga and its fallout should extend far beyond Boissonnault and GHI, which are merely the most publicly recognizable tips of the iceberg that is the government’s Indigenous business procurement targets. These affirmative action style mandates should be scrapped, along with the very idea that government contracts should be awarded to favour certain identities.
In 2021, Trudeau’s Liberals announced that a minimum of 5 percent of all federal department and agency contracts must go to Indigenous businesses. Even prior to these targets, a business’ inclusion in the government’s Indigenous Business Directory meant favourable treatment and limited competition for some contracts.
However, like many well-intentioned, poorly executed diversity initiatives, outcomes haven’t only not lived up to expectations, but perpetuated harm.
