New ‘Randy’ texts lead to 3rd ethics probe into Boissonnault’s business dealings

Canada’s parliamentary ethics commissioner said he has launched a third preliminary probe into Employment Minister Randy Boissonnault’s business dealings.

Commissioner Konrad von Finckenstein said he wrote a letter to Boissonnault Wednesday saying he was “concerned” about new text messages that had surfaced in which Boissonnault’s former business partner cites consulting someone named “Randy” on a business deal in 2022.

Stephen Anderson, who co-founded a medical supply company with Boissonnault, mentions the name “Randy” nine times in texts sent to a client on Sept. 6 and Sept. 8, 2022 — a year after Boissonnault said he resigned from the company.

Edmonton Centre MP Boissonnault was tourism minister at the time.

Federal ethics laws prohibit cabinet members from operating or managing businesses while in office.

Boissonnault was a partner at Global Health Imports (GHI) until September 2021, when he won back his Edmonton Centre seat and was appointed to cabinet. He said he then stepped down, as is legally required of public office holders, but remained a 50 per cent shareholder until recently. Ministers are allowed to own stakes in private companies.

The commissioner first looked into Boissonnault after Global News reported in May that he remained listed as director of GHI in business registries for 16 months after he was re-elected. Boissonnault said he thought Anderson would update the business registries after he resigned, which didn’t happen.

The second preliminary probe came a month later when Global News revealed texts Anderson sent to a client on Sept. 8 that showed someone referred to only as “Randy” asking for a “partner call.”

In both cases, von Finckenstein decided against launching a formal investigation.

The minister