Minister Randy Boissonnault's former business partner, Global Health Imports co-founder Stephen Anderson, testifying to the parliamentary ethics committee on July 17, 2024.Minister Randy Boissonnault’s former business partner, Stephen Anderson of Global Health Imports, testifying to the parliamentary ethics committee on July 17, 2024.
Anderson is chief operating officer of GHI. He told the assembled MPs that Employment Minister Boissonnault did not instruct him on how to run the business in September 2022, when Anderson sent the text messages referring to “Randy.”While MPs are permitted to own shares in companies, which Boissonnault did until last month, they cannot be involved in their businesses’ operations without breaching conflict-of-interest laws.
“I don’t think I want to get into … what you think an ‘autocorrect’ is,” Conservative MP Michael Barrett said to Anderson during Wednesday’s committee meeting, “This isn’t that.”Anderson told Global News on Friday that he had sent the committee clerk emails in the afternoon, but that he needed more time to gather phone records from his provider.
Boissonnault’s spokesperson, Alice Hansen, said, “Mr. Anderson should be honest with the committee regarding any possible use of the minister’s name without his consent and we encourage him to submit any records requested.”