Ethics Commissioner Konrad von Finkenstein said that after reviewing Employment Minister Randy Boissonneau’s records, he has again closed his investigation into the minister’s business dealings because he finds no evidence that Boissonneau violated conflict of interest laws.
Commissioners raised new concerns at a July ethics committee meeting after additional text messages were discovered from Boissonneau’s former business partner, Steven Anderson, that mentioned someone named “Randy.”
Boissonneau and Anderson co-founded the PPE company Global Health Imports before Boissonneau was appointed to cabinet in 2021.
Anderson sent a series of messages referring to a person named “Randy” after acknowledging that he had previously lied to reporters by saying he was referring to a different Randy who worked at GHI, but blamed autocorrect for the errors.
The text messages, sent in September 2022, raised new questions about whether Boissonneau continued to play a role in the business after becoming a cabinet minister and whether that was illegal.
Conflict of interest laws prohibit public office holders from managing or operating a business or commercial activity.
“Based on the information you have provided, and because there is no evidence that gives us reason to believe that you operated or controlled GHI in violation of the (conflict of interest law), we consider this matter resolved,” von Finkenstein wrote in the letter, dated Sept. 12, 2024, and obtained by CBC News.
In his letter, von Finkenstein said he was investigating allegations based on a series of text messages dated Sept. 6, 2022, sent by Anderson to Malvina Gaoui, president of the U.S.-based company Gaoui Group.
In a letter to Boissonneau, von Finkenstein said the minister had provided call records and a written response confirming that no text messages or emails had been exchanged between him and Anderson or the Gaoui Group.
He said there was a phone call between Anderson and Boissonneau on September 6, but Boissonneau said the call was about “handing over Purolator’s past due accounts.”
Von Finkenstein sent a similar letter to Boissonneau in July.
Boissonneau is scheduled to appear before the House of Representatives Ethics Committee on Thursday.