Randy Boissonnault is out of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s cabinet after months of controversy surrounding his former medical supply business.
In a brief statement Wednesday, Trudeau said Boissonnault “agreed … (to) step away from cabinet effective immediately.”
“Mr. Boissonnault will focus on clearing the allegations made against him,” Trudeau’s office said.
Those allegations, which surfaced in a series of stories by Global News, involve Boissonnault’s former business Global Health Imports (GHI), co-founded with Stephen Anderson in early 2020 after Boissonnault lost his seat in the 2019 election.
GHI has lost at least five lawsuits by default – failing to put up a defence – and has been ordered to pay more than $7.8 million to its suppliers and buyers, according to Alberta court documents. Boissonnault was not named in any of the lawsuits and has distanced himself from the company and Anderson.
Throughout the GHI controversy, Boissonnault managed to hold on to the confidence of the prime minister and his cabinet job. But earlier this month, Boissonnault attracted another scandal over his shifting claims of Indigenous ancestry, first reported by the National Post.
Boissonnault previously referred to himself as a “non-status adopted Cree” and said his great-grandmother was a “full-blooded Cree woman.”
He said he’d confirm his great-grandmother’s status, but his mother and brother are citizens of the Métis Nation of Alberta.
“I apologize if that particular way of referring to myself – I apologize that it was inaccurate,” Boissonnault said at an Edmonton event on Nov. 15.
Global News reported on Tuesday that Edmonton police are now investigating an allegation of fraud made against GHI and Anderson.
The Alberta MP said he resigned from the company in the fall of 2021, after he was re-elected and appointed to Trudeau’s cabinet and before the alleged fraud is said to have occurred. He retained a 50 per cent stake in the company until June 2024, when he “surrendered” his shares.
Global News’ investigations that month revealed GHI’s legal troubles, and later text messages from Anderson sent in 2022 suggesting he was in touch with ‘Randy’ in relation to business deals. At the time of the text messages, Boissonnault was a sitting cabinet minister.
Ethics rules forbid cabinet ministers from managing or operating private companies while in office, however, they are allowed to own shares.
Boissonnault denied he was the ‘Randy’ Anderson was referencing in the texts and has always maintained that he has had nothing to do with the business since he was re-elected in the fall of 2021. That led to months of ridicule from the opposition Conservatives, demanding to know who “the Other Randy” involved in Anderson’s business was.
Earlier on Wednesday, when asked by reporters if he still had confidence in Boissonnault, Trudeau walked by with a smile and a nod.
In question period, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre suggested Trudeau “knew” that Boissonnault was “directing his business illegally from inside cabinet.”
“He knew the minister had claimed there was another Randy when there was no other Randy. He knew the minister had falsely claimed to be Indigenous … and yet he stood by him up until yesterday,” Poilievre charged.
“Why is it that he always stands up for corruption on his own side?”
Trudeau repeated that Boissonnault was stepping down to “focus on clearing these allegations” before pivoting to attack Poilievre for allegedly “muzzling” Conservative MPs.
“It’s a good day for Indigenous people to know that Canadians, Indigenous people and politicians take this issue seriously and when and where pretendians exist, we will find it and we’ll get justice for Indigenous people,” said Blake Desjarlais, the NDP MP for Edmonton Griesbach, outside the House of Commons Wednesday.
“If you pretend to be Indigenous for the purpose of accessing Indigenous benefits, funding or prestige, you will be found out. We will find you. We will ensure that your reputation and the benefits you receive from pretending to be Indigenous are removed.”
Global News began reporting on GHI in May after learning Boissonnault was listed as a director of the medical supply company for more than a year while GHI was competing for provincial and municipal government contracts.
Boissonnault said he remained listed as a director in business registries because his business partner Anderson neglected to remove him from corporate records. His own lawyer lawyer filed the paperwork in March 2023.
GHI was founded in 2020 in the brief interlude between Boissonnault losing his Edmonton Centre seat in the 2019 election before regaining it in the fall of 2021.
He was appointed to Trudeau’s cabinet after that election and was tourism minister and associate finance minister until mid-2023, when he became employment minister. Boissonnault told Global News at the time that he had no role with GHI since he was elected and received no income from it.
That same month, Global News obtained September 2022 text message conversations between Anderson and Malvina Ghaoui, the principal of The Ghaoui Group, LLC, a California-based personal protective equipment (PPE) procurement company.
In the text exchange, while discussing business between GHI and The Ghaoui Group, Anderson repeatedly referenced someone named “Randy.” Boissonnault denied he was the Randy in question. Anderson told Global News that another Randy worked for GHI as the “head of logistics,” but declined to disclose the employee’s full name.
He later told the House ethics committee he lied to Global News and blamed an auto correct for typing ‘Randy’ nine times in text messages.
Canada’s Ethics Commissioner launched several preliminary probes into the matter, but declined to launch a formal investigation into Boissonnault.
Anderson and GHI are facing several civil fraud allegations in court. Anderson and the other defendants deny the allegations, which have not been tested in court.
On Tuesday, Global reported that the Edmonton Police are investigating Anderson and GHI over an allegation of fraud from Michael Weber, legal counsel for medical procurement company 4M Medical LLC, regarding a failed transaction with the company.
In court filings, Weber alleges GHI and Anderson fraudulently induced him to send a $350,000 deposit for a large shipment of medical gloves that GHI never delivered. The filing alleges that the refundable deposit 4M Medical sent in October 2022 was not returned.
Anderson and his lawyer did not respond to Global News’ request for comment on the criminal investigation.
With files from the Canadian Press