OTTAWA — Employment Minister Randy Boissonnault admitted he briefly spoke on the phone and exchanged text messages with his former business partner in 2022, but only because Purolator mistakenly reached out to him about an account.
Boissonnault was on the hot seat at the House of Commons ethics committee on Thursday for the second time in recent months to answer questions about communications Stephen Anderson had in 2022 with a certain “Randy” regarding business dealings.
Anderson co-founded Global Health Imports (GHI) with Boissonnault at the start of the pandemic, but the minister has repeatedly said he has had no involvement in GHI’s operations since he re-entered politics in 2021 since it is against ethics rules.
Boissonnault has always denied he was the “Randy” referenced in the text messages.
On Thursday, the minister told MPs that he had a one-minute phone call with Anderson on Sept. 6, 2022, following a text message he received from Purolator asking for an account to be settled. Both men also exchanged text messages just before that call.
Boissonnault said Purolator still had his number in their logbook and reached out to him because they could not contact GHI. He said he informed Anderson of that fact and sent him the message he had gotten from Purolator, and the conversation ended there.
“Purolator reached out to me because, for a time, I was the contact for the Purolator account and it was just a legacy number left in their system,” he explained.
Conservative MPs wondered why they were just finding out about this now.
“You’ve now admitted on that very day that you’ve spoken and texted with none other than Anderson, which you weren’t forthcoming about until you had no choice because you wanted to cover your butt. Do you think Canadians are stupid?” asked Michael Cooper.
The Opposition has been dogging Boissonnault since June, following reporting from Global News showing that Anderson had passed along an urgent message from a certain “Randy” to the owner of a personal protective equipment company for a wire transfer of $500,000.
The exchange was dated Sept. 8, 2022, which is almost a year after Boissonnault was first sworn into cabinet as associate minister of finance and of tourism. Last summer, he became minister of employment, workforce development and official languages.
The Conflict of Interest Act prohibits public office holders from engaging in certain outside activities, including managing or operating a business or commercial activity.
More messages surfaced from Sept. 6, 2022, in which Anderson referenced further discussions with “Randy.” One of those texts mentioned “Randy” being in Vancouver — at the same time as Boissonnault was in the city as part of a cabinet retreat.
Boissonnault said the ethics commissioner decided to not pursue the probe any further after he examined his phone records from that period.
“He has, once again, for the third time, come to the conclusion there is no cause for concern, and he considers this matter closed,” he said.
Following Anderson’s testimony at the committee this summer, MPs were left with more questions than answers.
Anderson said that the name “Randy” referenced in multiple text messages was an “unfortunate auto-correct.”
Anderson also admitted he panicked and lied to the media by initially saying that “Randy” was head of logistics at GHI.
Boissonnault said in a statement he was “deeply troubled and disappointed” by Anderson’s testimony. Boissonnault claimed that either his former business partner was speaking to someone else named “Randy” or he was using his name without his consent.
Boissonnault said Thursday that he regrets getting into business with Anderson in hindsight.
NDP MP Matthew Green said he came to that same conclusion after listening to Anderson for only a few minutes. “I’m quite frankly shocked that, as a senior minister in this government, it took you to 2024 to come to those same conclusions,” he said.
Liberal MP Anthony Housefather asked if going into business with the “wrong guy” is of the purview of the ethics commissioner, to which Boissonnault replied “no.”
Conservative MP Larry Brock said that despite Boissonnault’s best efforts, this story will not be going away anytime soon.
“The cloud of suspicion will hang over you until the next election,” he said.
National Post
[email protected]
Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark nationalpost.com and sign up for our politics newsletter, First Reading, here.