Ethics Committee Calls MP Boissonnault’s Former Business Associates to Testify or Face Arrest

Liberal MP Randy Boissonnault speaks at a news conference in Ottawa, on May 9, 2024. The Canadian Press/Justin Tang

The House of Commons ethics committee has issued summonses for two former business associates of Liberal MP Randy Boissonnaul to  testify before the committee or face arrest.

“I know this is a made-for-Netflix miniseries that we have been a part of the last few months,” said New Democrat MP Matthew Green on Nov. 26. The two men must surrender for questioning or “have a bounty hunter knocking on your door and serving you with an official summons.”

According to Blacklock’s Reporter, the committee passed a Conservative motion summoning Felix Papineau and Shawna Parker of Global Health Imports (GHI) to testify before the committee at “a date determined by the Chair.” The two are former employees of the company co-founded by Boissonnault in 2020.

Conservative MP and committee chair John Brassard said “significant effort” has already been made to contact them, and they face arrest if they continue to ignore requests for them to testify.

The summons came the same day Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) announced the agency has temporarily suspended GHI from participating in federal procurement as of Nov. 22. PSPC said while GHI had one active contract awarded by Elections Canada, no deliverables had been received or payments made before a full stop-work order was issued.

Catherine Poulin, assistant deputy minister at PSPC, told the committee that the company was struck from the bidders’ list due to an Alberta police investigation. “I can confirm as the registrar of ineligibility and suspension I provisionally suspended Global Health Imports from doing business with the Government of Canada,” testified Poulin.

“We are constantly looking at various types of information while assessing the risk a supplier may pose to the federal government,” said Poulin.

The government’s suspension of GHI comes amid increased scrutiny of the firm following allegations it bid on federal contracts while falsely claiming to be fully “Indigenous-owned.” Federal procurement rules state that businesses can only identify as “Aboriginal” to the federal government if they are listed on an official registry of eligible indigenous-owned companies. GHI was not on that list.

In a Nov. 8 statement, Boissonnault accused his former business partner Stephen Anderson of behaving in an “unacceptable manner” by using his name without his consent “to advance his personal interests repeatedly,” including presenting GHI as indigenous-owned. After the National Post reported on census records showing Boissonnault’s great-grandmother had a German father, contradicting Boissonnault’s previous claim she was “full-blooded Cree,” the MP acknowledged he had not been “clear” about his heritage and apologized. Anderson has not responded to requests for comment.

On Nov. 20, the Prime Minister’s Office announced Boissonnault would be leaving cabinet to clear the allegations, with Veterans Affairs Minister Ginette Petitpas Taylor temporarily taking over his employment portfolio.

Boissonnault had also come under investigation by the ethics commissioner over allegations he may have been involved in GHI’s business dealings while in office. Ethics Commissioner Konrad von Finckenstein launched three probes into Boissonnault’s business dealings to determine whether he was improperly involved with GHI while he was a member of Parliament. He was cleared for the third and final time in September.