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 Global News 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.
Get breaking National news
For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen.
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.
After Boissonnault answered a barrage of questions and vehemently denied any wrongdoing in his September testimony, most MPs on the ethics committee appeared satisfied with his explanation that Anderson had been using his name without his consent to lend GHI credibility.
Anderson, for his part, first told Global News he was referring to another employee named Randy at GHI. He later admitted to the committee that he lied to Global News, and instead blamed autocorrect for typing ‘Randy’ nine times in texts to Ghaoui.
The latest messages that emerged in court documents bring that count up to 11.
New ‘Randy’ texts
The affidavit was filed in support of The Ghaoui Group’s lawsuit against GHI, Anderson and his other company, Global Healthcare Solutions (GHS). In it, Michael R. Weber, legal counsel for California-based 4M Medical LLC, alleges Anderson was running GHI as a “fraudulent scheme.”
Weber alleges Anderson induced him into sending a refundable deposit of approximately $350,000 to secure a large shipment of medical gloves. GHI never delivered the goods and then did not return the deposit, which was sent to an account held by GHS, Weber said in the document.
Prior to Weber wiring the deposit, Anderson texted Weber that he had updated ‘Randy’ about the status of the sale of $3.45 million worth of medical gloves to 4M Medical, according to the WhatsApp transcript attached to the affidavit.
“I just updated Felix and Randy and they said we have to move we cant fool around,” Anderson wrote Weber on Sept. 20, 2022.
Felix Papineau handles GHI’s bids on government contracts.
Anderson had told Weber that Randy was his business partner and a member of the Canadian Parliament, Weber’s affidavit reads.
According to the transcript, on Sept. 22, 2022, Weber tells Anderson he is prepared to wire the deposit. Anderson replies: “Ok are you confident really I won’t tell shawna and Felix and Randy yet.”
Shawna Parker is Anderson’s sister who worked at GHI.
Weber told Global News in an interview that he has had no direct communication with Boissonnault, but in the fall of 2022, he obtained GHI’s corporate records, which confirmed Anderson’s claim that Boissonnault was a partner in the business.
Boissonnault’s name remained listed in GHI’s corporate records 16 months after he was appointed to cabinet, Global News previously found. Boissonnault said it was Anderson’s responsibility to update the registries, which did not happen.
“Anderson’s use of Boissonnault’s name was a major factor to induce 4M to risk the US$250,000 deposit,” Weber said.
Weber wired the money to an account held by GHS on Oct. 17, 2022, court documents show.
In the affidavit, Weber said Anderson used similar tactics on him that he had employed on Ghaoui, whose company also entered into a contract with GHI to buy a large shipment of medical gloves in September 2022.
The Ghaoui Group wired a nearly $500,000 deposit to the same GHS account, which the company alleges in court documents was never returned when the sale fell through.
Weber was sued by the investment company that provided 4M Medical with the $350,000 deposit, according to the affidavit.
Hansen, Boissonnault’s communications director, said the minister “had no dealings with 4M Medical LLC, or Mr. Weber and had no knowledge of these business affairs at all.”
Neither Anderson nor his lawyer responded to Global News’ questions by deadline.
Both Weber and Ghaoui said they have filed police reports with the Edmonton Police Service (EPS) regarding their transactions with GHI. The EPS did not respond to Global News’ questions by deadline.
New witnesses testify
While committee members have called upon Boissonnault again, they also invited a host of new witnesses to testify: Ghaoui, Parker and Papineau. The motion did not provide a time frame for when they are expected to appear.
Ghaoui said she “looks forward to providing any information or testimony that may help clarify the matters under review.”
Neither Papineau nor Parker responded to Global News’ requests for comment.
The motion came just days after Boissonnault was grilled in the House of Commons over a National Post report that found Anderson had bid on federal contracts in 2020 claiming GHI was “a wholly owned Indigenous and LGBTQ Company.”
In a statement posted on Nov. 8 to X, formerly Twitter, Boissonnault wrote that he did not consent to Anderson “making any false representations to portray Global Health Imports as an Indigenous-owned company.”
Hansen told the Post Anderson had “full responsibility” for bids on contracts. She accused Anderson, again, of using Boissonnault’s name without his consent “to advance his personal interests.”
If you have information for this story, or information for another story, please contact me in confidence at krista.hessey@globalnews.ca