Randy Boissonnault

Randy Paul Andrew Boissonnault PC MP (born July 14, 1970) is a Canadian politician who is the member of Parliament (MP) for Edmonton Centre. A member of the Liberal Party, he was initially elected to the House of Commons in the 2015 federal election and served until his defeat in 2019. He later went on to win back his seat in 2021. Boissonnault held several ministerial roles, including Minister of Tourism and Associate Minister of Finance from 2021 to 2023 and Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Official Languages from 2023 to 2024, when he resigned from Cabinet.^[2][3] Notably, he was one of five openly gay MPs elected in 2015 and the first openly gay MP elected from Alberta.^[4][5]

The Honourable Randy Boissonnault PC MP
Boissonnault in 2014
Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Official Languages
In office July 26, 2023 – November 20, 2024
Prime Minister	Justin Trudeau
Preceded by	Carla Qualtrough
Succeeded by	Ginette Petitpas Taylor
Minister of Tourism Associate Minister of Finance
In office October 26, 2021 – July 26, 2023
Prime Minister	Justin Trudeau
Preceded by	Mona Fortier (as Associate Minister of Finance)
Succeeded by	Soraya Martinez Ferrada
Member of Parliament for Edmonton Centre
Incumbent
Assumed office September 20, 2021
Preceded by	James Cumming
In office October 19, 2015 – October 21, 2019
Preceded by	Laurie Hawn
Succeeded by	James Cumming
Special Advisor to the Prime Minister on LGBTQ2 Issues
In office November 15, 2016 – September 11, 2019
Prime Minister	Justin Trudeau
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Vacant
Personal details
Born	Randy Paul Andrew Boissonnault[1] (1970-07-14) July 14, 1970 (age 54) Morinville, Alberta, Canada
Political party	Liberal
Alma mater	University of Alberta Corpus Christi College, Oxford
Website	Official website

Early life

Boissonnault was born in the Franco-Albertan town of Morinville, Alberta,^[6] on July 14, 1970.

After graduating from the University of Alberta, Boissonault studied at the University of Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar.^[6] He subsequently worked as a lecturer at the University of Alberta's Campus Saint-Jean and as a journalist and political commentator for Radio-Canada and Les Affaires.^[7]

Political career

Boissonnault was elected in the 2015 election in the riding of Edmonton Centre, the first Liberal MP to win in the riding for almost a decade.^[6]

Upon being sworn in as an MP, Boissonnault was named Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Canadian Heritage.^[6]

On November 15, 2016, Boissonnault was named special advisor on LGBTQ2 issues to the Prime Minister.^[8] The role involves advising Trudeau "on the development and co-ordination of the Government of Canada’s LGBTQ2 agenda" including protecting LGBT rights in Canada and addressing both present and historical discrimination.^[8]

He was defeated in the 2019 election. On July 14, 2021, he was acclaimed as the Edmonton Centre Liberal candidate for the next Canadian federal election.^[9] He won the election on September 20, 2021, defeating James Cumming, who had previously defeated him in 2019.

In Cabinet

Boissonnault was appointed the minister of tourism and associate minister of finance in a Cabinet shuffle following the 2021 federal election.^[10]

His last position in cabinet was serving as Minister of Employment, Workforce Development, and Official Languages following a cabinet shuffle in the summer of 2023. He is the first Franco-Albertan to be appointed to the position of Minister for Official Languages.

Boissonnault was part owner of Global Health Imports (GHI), a medical supply company. In January of 2024 GHI won a $28,300 contract from the Government of Canada.^[11] The award of this contract was not publicly-reported for seven months, at least two months later than the requirement to disclose under Canada's access laws. ^[12] He received criticism for these dealings, which he blamed on a business partner in a social media statement. He is currently under a probe by the House ethics committee, and the afformentioned business partner is under police investigation.

Boissonnault received further criticism after his conflicting statements about his Indigenous heritage came to light.^[13] He has claimed in the past to be a "non-status adopted Cree" person,^[14] but was revealed to have actually have Métis ancestry through his adoptive great-grandmother.^[15] He sat in the Liberal Indigenous caucus, which he described as “allyship”. He resigned from cabinet on November 20, 2024, days after the allegations resurfaced.^[16] In December 2024, he testified before the Canadian House of Commons Standing Committee on Indigenous and Northern Affairs that he was not Indigenous.^[17]

Election results

v t e 2021 Canadian federal election: Edmonton Centre
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Randy Boissonnault	16,560	33.7	+0.6	$109,821.36
	Conservative	James Cumming	15,945	32.4	-9.05	$81,069.18
	New Democratic	Heather MacKenzie	14,171	28.8	+8.16	$50,495.97
	People's	Brock Crocker	2,094	4.3	+2.78	$3,172.62
	Libertarian	Valerie Keefe	266	0.5	-	$0.00
	Marxist–Leninist	Merryn Edwards	112	0.2	+0.05	$0.00
Total valid votes/Expense limit			49,148	–	–	$110,160.12
Total rejected ballots			342
Turnout			49,490
Eligible voters			78,769
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing		+4.83
Source: Elections Canada[18]

v t e 2019 Canadian federal election: Edmonton Centre
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Conservative	James Cumming	22,006	41.45	+6.50	none listed
	Liberal	Randy Boissonnault	17,524	33.01	-4.18	none listed
	New Democratic	Katherine Swampy	10,959	20.64	-3.81	$53,174.12
	Green	Grad Murray	1,394	2.63	+0.00	none listed
	People's	Paul Hookham	805	1.52	-	$5,550.42
	Rhinoceros	Donovan Eckstrom	206	0.39	-0.09	$0.00
	Independent	Adil Pirbhai	119	0.22		$3,475.90
	Marxist–Leninist	Peggy Morton	79	0.15	-	$0.00
Total valid votes/expense limit			53,092	99.32
Total rejected ballots			362	0.68	+0.24
Turnout			53,454	64.32	-2.72
Eligible voters			83,112
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing		+5.34
Source: Elections Canada[19][20][21]

v t e 2015 Canadian federal election: Edmonton Centre
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Randy Boissonnault	19,902	37.19	+13.46	$126,839.87
	Conservative	James Cumming	18,703	34.95	-11.25	$132,838.67
	New Democratic	Gil McGowan	13,084	24.45	-1.37	$109,525.67
	Green	David Parker	1,403	2.62	-0.94	$113.87
	Rhinoceros	Steven Stauffer	257	0.48	–	–
	Independent	Kat Yaki	163	0.30	–	$2,097.91
Total valid votes/expense limit			53,512	99.56		$211,594.41
Total rejected ballots			234	0.44	–
Turnout			53,746	67.04	–
Eligible voters			80,173
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing		+12.35
Source: Elections Canada[22][23]