The federal government has suspended contracting with Global Health Imports (GHI), a medical supply company co-founded by Liberal MP and former Employment Minister Randy Boissonnault.
Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC)
announced on Nov. 26 that the company had been temporarily suspended from participating in federal procurement as of Nov. 22. PSCP said GHI has one active contract awarded by Elections Canada, but no deliverables had been received or payments made before it issued a full stop-work order.
GHI, a medical supply company, was co-founded by Boissonnault and his ex-business partner Stephen Anderson in early 2020 at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Boissonnault had lost his Edmonton Centre seat in 2019, but after regaining it in 2021, he resigned from GHI, as is legally required of public office holders. He remained a 50 percent owner of the company until June, when he surrendered his shares.
The government’s suspension of GHI comes amid increased scrutiny on the firm following allegations that GHI bid on federal contracts while falsely claiming to be fully “Indigenous-owned.” Boissonnault has said for years that he was a “non-status adopted Cree” and that one of his great-grandmothers was a “full-blooded Cree woman.”
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, but GHI was not on that 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,” including by portraying GHI as being indigenous-owned. In the statement, Boissonnault also said the family he was adopted into had indigenous ancestry due to his mother and brother being status Métis.
After the National Post reported on census records showed Boissonnault’s great-grandmother had a German father, contradicting his claim she was “full-blooded Cree,”
Boissonnault acknowledged he had not been “clear” about his heritage and apologized.
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.
Anderson testified before the parliamentary ethics committee this past summer, where he blamed the autocorrect function for the name “Randy” appearing in nine text messages he sent in 2022 regarding GHI business dealings, including one in reference to a “partner call.” Anderson said the texts were actually referring to another individual working for the company.
Ethics Commissioner Konrad von Finckenstein launched three probes into Boissonnault’s business dealings to determine whether Boissonnault was improperly involved with GHI while at the same time being a member of parliament, and was cleared for the third and final time in September. Conservatives had repeatedly suggested Boissonnault was involved with the company while being an MP, and called for him to step down.
