Boissonnault’s former company, business partner face civil fraud allegation

Cabinet minister Randy Boissonnault’s former company is facing its seventh lawsuit and an allegation of fraud by an Edmonton seniors care not-for-profit.

Shepherd’s Care Foundation and its affiliate, Christian Care at Home Trust, filed a claim against Global Health Imports (GHI) and Boissonnault’s former business partner, Stephen Anderson, on July 12.

The suit, filed in Edmonton, accuses Anderson of moving more than $430,000 worth of Shepherd’s Care’s inventory out of GHI’s Edmonton warehouse and producing a fraudulent document to cover it up. The products were allegedly never returned.

This is the second allegation of civil fraud Anderson faces. Boissonnault is not named in the new lawsuit.

Boissonnault co-founded GHI, a medical supply company, with Anderson at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and helped run the company until he won back his Edmonton Centre seat and was appointed to cabinet in the fall of 2021.

Boissonnault said then he resigned, as is legally required of public office holders, but remained a 50 per cent owner of GHI until this past June, when he surrendered his shares.

Currently employment minister, Boissonnault is under scrutiny from Canada’s ethics commissioner over allegations he may have been involved in GHI’s business dealings while in office. Ministers may own stakes in companies but are prohibited from operating or managing them.

Recent Global News investigations revealed GHI’s legal troubles and raised questions about whether Boissonnault was communicating with Anderson about a business deal in 2022 — when he was tourism minister.

The Edmonton Centre MP said he hasn’t been involved with the GHI since his re-election and his office told Global News he disposed of his shares due to the