The parliamentary ethics committee has called Liberal cabinet minister Randy Boissonnault to testify for a third time as newly disclosed text messages raise more questions about his possible involvement in a medical supply business while in office.
As part of an affidavit filed on Nov. 6 in an Edmonton court, WhatsApp correspondence shows Boissonnault’s former business partner, Stephen Anderson, texted a second client that he was updating ‘Randy’ on the status of another multi-million-dollar deal.
The texts have reignited the ethics controversy that has plagued Boissonnault and the Liberals since May.
On Thursday, the committee passed a motion calling for Boissonnault and a host of new witnesses to appear, effectively reopening the committee’s study into allegations Boissonnault broke conflict of interest laws by being involved in business deals while serving as a minister in Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s cabinet.
Boissonnault and Anderson co-founded Global Health Imports (GHI) at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Boissonnault’s office said in a statement that Anderson has been using the minister’s name without his permission after Boissonnault resigned from GHI in the fall of 2021.
“As the Minister has said on many occasions, he was not involved in any of the text conversations with Mr. Anderson that have been referenced by the media, including these most recent conversations referenced in this court filing,” wrote Alice Hansen, Boissonnault’s director of communications.
Tory ethics critic Michael Barrett cited the new court documents when he put forward the motion.
“These text messages, WhatsApp messages, add a new dimension to what this committee is dealing with,” Barrett said.
The motion was approved in a vote of 6 to 5, with Liberal MPs unanimously voting against it.
The committee did not invite Anderson back to Ottawa to testify after several MPs said they found him to be an unreliable witness during his July appearance. Anderson is expected to be found in contempt of Parliament for refusing to answer questions and turn over documents ordered by MPs earlier this summer.
The six-month-long saga began with revelations, first reported on by Media in May, that GHI had been hit with half a dozen lawsuits, most by Canadian suppliers alleging the company did not pay its bills.
Global News revealed the company, which Boissonnault owned 50 per cent of until June, is mired in lawsuits, including several allegations of civil fraud, owes approximately $8 million in court-ordered debt, had its warehouse set on fire by three arsonists, and bid on — and won — a federal contract while Boissonnault was in cabinet, in a possible contravention of ethics rules.
Boissonnault is not named in any of the lawsuits and Anderson denies the fraud allegations, which remain unproven in court.
Hansen said Boissonnault was unaware GHI bid on a federal contract while he was a shareholder and denied the contract broke ethics rules.
Boissonnault maintains he has had no role in GHI since he was re-elected as Edmonton Centre MP and appointed to cabinet. He has declined to answer questions regarding GHI’s business operations after that time “because he had no part in those operations,” his office said in a previous statement.
The lone Albertan in cabinet, Boissonnault was tourism minister and associate finance minister until mid-2023, when he was promoted to the more senior position of employment minister.
Text messages Anderson sent in 2022 have been the focus for parliamentarians. That’s because ethics rules prohibit cabinet ministers from managing or operating private businesses while in office.
In those texts, Anderson repeatedly told Malvina Ghaoui, a client of GHI’s, that he was updating ‘Randy’ about the sale of $17 million worth of medical gloves to Ghaoui’s company, The Ghaoui Group LLC. In all, Anderson references ‘Randy’ nine times in texts across two days.
Boissonnault denies he is the ‘Randy’ in the text messages.
Canada’s ethics commissioner, Konrad von Finckenstein, looked into the communications between Anderson and Ghaoui, reviewing materials submitted to his office by Boissonnault on two occasions. Both times, von Finckenstein decided against launching a formal investigation because he said he found no evidence Boissonnault broke conflict of interest laws by communicating with Anderson.