Minister Boissonnault will testify before the ethics committee about his ties to a lobbyist and a PPE company

Members of the parliamentary ethics committee approved a motion to summon Employment Minister Randy Boissonnault and Ethics Commissioner Konrad von Finckenstein to testify about the minister’s ties to a lobbyist and a medical supply company revealed by Global News .

Last week, Global News published two investigations into the Edmonton Center MP’s business activities. The first discovered that he had ties to a lobbyist who helped his client win $110 million in federal grants. The other found that a personal protective equipment (PPE) company co-founded by Boissonnault received $8.2 million in provincial and municipal contracts and has also faced serious legal challenges.

Conservative MP Michael Barrett put the motion before the ethics committee on Tuesday, which approved it by six to five.

Conservative, NDP and Bloc Québécois MPs on the committee voted in favor of the motion, while Liberal MPs voted against it.

Barrett asked the committee to examine whether Boissonnault violated conflict of interest and lobbying laws and to publicly report its findings. A hearing date has not yet been set.

Boissonnault’s office told Global News that the minister has followed conflict of interest and lobbying rules.

“Minister Boissonnault always complied with all of his conflicts of interest and ethical obligations as a public office holder,” said Alice Hansen, his communications director.

Boissonnault, the only member of Alberta’s Liberal cabinet, represents Edmonton Centre, one of the party’s two strongholds in the province.

The motion comes after Barrett wrote to Lobby Commissioner Nancy Bélanger and von Finckenstein about Boissonnault’s business activities. Citing what he said were possible violations of eight sections of the Conflict of Interest Act, along with the Lobbyists’ Code of Conduct and the Open and Responsible Government Code, he demanded that both commissioners launch investigations.

Bélanger told Barrett that his office cannot reveal whether or not it is conducting an investigation, or if it is preparing to do so.

On Tuesday, Barrett asked the ethics committee to “conduct an immediate study” into payments Boissonnault receives from Navis Group, a lobbying firm, and his stake in Global Health Imports (GHI), a medical supply company involved in lawsuits. .

Barrett requested that Boissonnault’s business partners be asked to appear before the committee. He named Stephen Anderson, a former hockey coach who co-founded GHI with Boissonnault in early 2020.

According to company registry documents obtained by Global News, Boissonnault remained listed as a GHI director for 16 months after his appointment to cabinet in 2021. Under the Conflict of Interest Law, ministers are prohibited from serving as company directors.

Boissonnault maintains that he resigned from GHI’s board of directors after regaining his position in 2021 and that he asked Anderson to update business records, which did not happen.

It is generally the responsibility of the corporation to change provincial and federal business records.

In a statement to Global News, Boissonnault’s office said he has had no role in GHI since he was elected and receives no income from it.

Michael Wrobel, a spokesman for the ethics commissioner’s office, said Boissonnault complied with the requirements of the Conflict of Interest Act.

“The office is aware that even after a public office holder has resigned his or her directorship in a company, it may take some time for corporate records to be updated to reflect that change,” Wrobel said in a statement.

The records were not updated until March 2023, 507 days after Boissonnault joined the cabinet.

GHI won at least $8.2 million in municipal and provincial contracts. Industry professionals said a small startup winning government contracts of this size was unusual.

GHI also got into legal trouble.

The company, a pandemic-era supplier that sold items such as disinfectants and medical gowns, lost six lawsuits for noncompliance. When the company failed to defend itself, Alberta courts ordered GHI to pay more than $7.8 million to its suppliers and buyers. Boissonnault is not named in any of the lawsuits.

Barrett also asked the committee to invite Kirsten Poon, Boissonnault’s longtime business partner. She is a director of her two companies, Xennex Venture Catalysts and 2256956 Alberta Ltd. Both closed their daily operations after the minister took office.

Being trending now

• Person attempts to enter Drake property in Toronto as shooting investigation continues

• Study finds ultra-processed foods linked to increased risk of premature death. What to avoid

Poon’s lobbying firm, Navis Group, has been issuing “pending” payments to Boissonnault, which she and the minister say are due to her work as a private citizen for the United Nations Development Program in 2020 and 2021.

At the human resources standing committee earlier this week, Boissonnault refused to answer questions from Conservative MPs about how much money he had received from the Navis Group, which only raised more suspicions from the opposition.

“The minister is having a difficult time keeping his story straight,” Barrett told the ethics committee.

Speaking about why he called for this investigation, ethics critic Barrett said it would “give us the opportunity to provide transparency to Canadians where that appears to have failed, both in the minister’s most recent appearance on the committee, but also in his revelations to Parliament officials.”

The minister’s links to GHI and Navis Group were not obvious in documents published in the ethics commissioner’s register outlining his conflicts of interest.

Wrobel attributed the omission of GHI in these documents to an error made by the office, which it soon corrected.

The ethics committee will also explore questions about whether Poon’s connection to Boissonnault helped his work for the Edmonton Regional Airports Authority.

Poon took over a lobbying contract for Xennex, Boissonnault’s second company, after the minister took office. He lobbied political staff across the federal government, including meeting with political advisers from Finance Canada in March and June 2022, where Boissonnault was associate minister at the time.

“Minister Boissonnault has not been involved in any of Ms. Poon’s lobbying activities since he was elected, and all necessary measures have been taken to avoid any conflict of interest,” Hansen said in a statement.

The connection between the minister and the lobbyist was not easy for officials and the public to identify. The ethics commissioner’s record noted that Boissonnault was receiving delayed payments from 2050877 Alberta Ltd., the legal name of Navis Group.

Both Wrobel and Boissonnault’s spokesperson stated that the minister was obliged to indicate the legal name of the company, which he did.

Poon’s lobbying in 2021 and 2022 helped raise $110 million in federal grants for Edmonton International Airport. She maintains that her lobbying was independent of Boissonnault.

Boissonnault told the human resources committee on May 6 that he had “no linear authority” over decisions related to Poon’s work, indicating that he was not required to notify the ethics commissioner of any conflict of interest.

According to Wrobel, this is correct. “A conflict of interest assessment would not necessarily be necessary” in such a situation, she told Global News.