Employment Minister Says His Former Company Claimed to be Indigenous-Owned Without His Consent

Employment, Workforce Development, and Official Languages Minister Randy Boissonnault speaks during a news conference in Ottawa on May 21, 2024. The Canadian Press/Adrian Wyld

Federal Employment Minister Randy Boissonnault says a company he once co-owned did not have his consent when it claimed to be indigenous-owned while bidding on federal contracts.

His comments came after the National Post reported on Nov. 7 it has obtained documents showing that Boissonnaut’s former business partner, Stephen Anderson, described Global Health Imports Corporation as a “wholly-owned Indigenous and LGBTQ Company” when bidding for a contract to supply face masks in 2020.

Boissonnault says he was adopted into an indigenous family but is not himself indigenous.

Prospective suppliers can only identify themselves to the federal government as “Aboriginal” if they are on an official list of businesses eligible to benefit from procurement programs favouring indigenous-owned firms. Global Health Imports was not on the list.

In a Nov. 8 statement, Boissonnault accused Anderson of behaving in an “unacceptable manner” by using his name without his consent “to advance his personal interests repeatedly,” and continuing for years after their work together had ended.

“I also did not consent to Mr. Anderson making any false representations to portray Global Health Imports as an Indigenous-owned company, nor would I,” he said. “There is a long history of non-Indigenous individuals claiming status to access programs, and such actions are wrong and deeply hurtful to Indigenous people.”

Boissonnault said the family he was adopted into has indigenous ancestry, and both his adopted mother and brother are status Métis. The employment minister said while he does not have status, he has participated in indigenous caucus events as an ally. He added that he regretted having gone into business with Anderson.

Anderson did not respond to The Epoch Times’ request for comment before publication time.

During question period on Nov. 8, Conservative MP Michael Cooper reacted to The National Post article by calling the incident “disgusting cultural appropriation and outright fraud.” Liberal MP Jenica Atwin responded that the company had never been listed on the Indigenous Business Directory and never received a contract for the procurement strategy for indigenous businesses.

Ethics Probes on Business Dealings

In the last year, Boissonnault has faced three probes from federal Ethics Commissioner Konrad von Finckenstein for his role at Global Health Imports. Von Finckenstein first looked into Boissonnault’s business dealings after Global News reported in May that he remained listed as a director of the medical supply company Global Health Imports Corporation while serving in public office.

Boissonnault has said he was a partner at the company until he was elected in September 2021, at which point he abided by federal ethics laws for cabinet ministers by resigning from the company. He said he had asked Anderson to update the federal and provincial business registries, but that was not done. He remained a 50 percent shareholder until recently, as ministers are allowed to own shares in private companies, but are not allowed to have a role in managing or operating businesses.

A second preliminary probe took place in June, after reports that Anderson sent text messages to a client on Sept. 8, 2022, in which he referred to “Randy” asking him for a “partner call.” Anderson told the Ethics Committee on July 17 that his phone had auto-corrected the name to “Randy” several times by mistake, when the texts were actually for another individual working for the company.

Commissioner von Finckenstein decided not to launch a formal investigation following both preliminary probes.

The third probe was launched in August after text messages from Sept. 6, 2022, were found that showed Anderson communicating with the same client and mentioning he had updated “Randy” about a business deal. One of the messages said “Randy” would have a “partner vote” on the deal, while another said Randy was “in the Vancouver office,” at the same time Boissonnault was staying in the city for a cabinet retreat.

Following that probe, von Finckenstein said he considered the matter closed after finding no evidence Boissonnault was involved in a business deal while in cabinet.