Ethics commissioner will not investigate Boissonnault over ‘Randy’ texts, says the matter is closed

Canada’s ethics commissioner said he has found no evidence Employment Minister Randy Boissonnault was involved in a business deal while in cabinet and considers the matter closed, according to a letter obtained by Global News.

Boissonnault referenced the letter during his testimony before the parliamentary ethics committee on Thursday.

“I’m happy to inform this committee that the ethics commissioner has written to me and told me that he has completed his assessment, including the examination of my phone records. He has once again, for the third time, coming to the conclusion there is no cause for concern,” Boissonnault said.

The appearance of the Edmonton Centre MP marks the second time he went before the ethics committee to answer questions about text messages his former business partner sent in 2022, citing communications with someone named “Randy.” His previous testimony was in June.

At the centre of the matter is a medical supply company called Global Health Imports, or GHI, and whether or not Boissonault was involved in its daily operations while in cabinet, which could have been a conflict of interest.

At the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic while he was out of office, Boissonnault co-founded GHI with Edmonton-area hockey coach Stephen Anderson.

In June, Global News first reported on the texts Anderson sent to a client on Sept. 8, 2022, which raised questions about whether Boissonnault had continued to manage the company.

The story drew the attention of ethics commissioner Konrad on Finckenstein, whose office opened a case file into Boissonnault. Von Finckenstein then reviewed Boissonnault’s phone logs and text messages from the day the texts were sent, and said in a letter leaked to the press in June he found no evidence