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Calls for the former business partner of federal cabinet minister Randy Boissonnault to be found in contempt of Parliament are increasing.
This week, the federal NDP and Bloc Québécois backed a Conservative effort to find Stephen Anderson in contempt because he did not produce documents and information requested by the ethics committee.
Earlier this summer, Anderson was ordered to turn over his call and text logs, as well as the identity of the person he referred to as “Randy” in text messages from September 2022.
The opposition wants the House of Commons to use its power to compel Anderson to produce outstanding information in relation to allegations that Boissonnault broke ethics rules by engaging in a business deal while in office.
Employment Minister Boissonnault denies the allegations and has said he is not the “Randy” referred to in text messages. Canada’s ethics commissioner has also said he considers the matter closed after reviewing Boissonnault’s call records.
However, opposition MPs have criticized the scope of the commissioner’s powers and remain steadfast in seeking information from Anderson.
Tory ethics critic Michael Barrett raised a “question of privilege” in the House of Commons last week, arguing that Anderson’s refusal to hand over documents breached the committee’s parliamentary privilege — that is, the committee’s right to carry out their functions unhindered.
It was taken under advice by the Speaker, effectively triggering the parliamentary process.
NDP ethics critic Matthew Green rose on a point of order Monday to support Barrett’s privilege question.
“This House must maintain the authority to protect our parliamentary privilege to ensure accountability and transparency in all matters of government oversight before its standing committees,” Green said.
Bloc Québécois MP René Villemure, who sits on the ethics committee, told Global News on Wednesday that his party also supports the Conservatives’ move.
“If we (Anderson) receive non-answers, where will the committee go? The entire legitimacy of this committee is at stake here,” said Villemure.
Boissonnault has been under scrutiny by the ethics committee and Canada’s conflict of interest and ethics commissioner for months over texts sent by Anderson in September 2022 that cited repeated discussions about a multimillion-dollar business deal with someone named “Randy.”
Boissonnault, who is MP for Edmonton Centre, was tourism minister and associate finance minister at the time. Ethics laws prohibit cabinet ministers from operating or managing private businesses.
Boissonnault co-founded a medical supply company called Global Health Imports (GHI) with Anderson in 2020. They ran the business together until the fall of 2021, when Boissonnault was re-elected and appointed to the cabinet .
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Boissonnault has maintained that he had nothing to do with GHI since he was re-elected.
As the first step in a lengthy parliamentary process, the Speaker of the House of Commons has taken the matter under advisement and must now make a decision about whether Anderson appears to be in contempt. If the Speaker decides that there is an appearance of contempt, a motion will be tabled, debated and then voted on by all MPs.
A person can be found in contempt of the Senate if they have interfered with the House committees’ abilities to carry out their functions, which, in this case, was the ethics committee’s study of whether Boissonnault violated the Conflict of Interest Act.
Green, the Hamilton Center MP, told Global News in an interview that he was concerned about a growing trend of witnesses refusing to cooperate with Parliament.
He compared the situation with Anderson to that of ArriveCan contractor Kristian Firth, who was found in contempt of Parliament in April after refusing to answer some committee questions about his company’s $25-million contract with the federal government.
“If we have people – citizens, MPs, ministers, parliamentarians – deciding that they simply don’t want to co-operate with the parliamentary process, then it really undermines the democratic ability to have full discussions,” said Green.
In a rare summer hearing, MPs on the ethics committee repeatedly asked Anderson who the “Randy” in the text messages was. Anderson declined to say, but said repeatedly that the “Randy” in the messages was not Boissonnault. He blamed autocorrect for typing “Randy” nine times in messages to a client.
Refusing to answer questions during witness testimony and failing to comply with committee orders to produce documents are grounds for someone to be in contempt.
Anderson did both, a committee report tabled in the House last week found.
Villemure, MP for Trois-Rivières, said he believed this issue would have been settled in the summer if Anderson had been informed.
“We still have to answer: Who is Randy?” he said.
Anderson did not comment by deadline.
Boissonnault’s office said the minister “encourages Mr. Anderson to comply with the proposals passed by the committee.”
New communications emerging
This comes after Boissonnault’s latest evidence before the ethics committee revealed that he had been in brief contact with Anderson in the fall of 2022, which raised new questions from opposition MPs.
Boissonnault admitted to texting and speaking with Anderson by phone on September 6, 2022, the same day Anderson texted a client that he was communicating with someone named “Randy” about a business deal.
Boissonnault told MPs last Thursday that he contacted Anderson after receiving a message from Purolator inquiring about an issue with an account held by GHI.
“(Purolator) was using records they had on file in an attempt to reach someone from the company, despite the fact that I had not been involved with the company for more than a year,” Boissonnault said in his testimony on 19 September.
Liberal MP Anthony Housefather read the text correspondence from that day, which Boissonnault had provided to committee members.
Boissonnault texted Anderson around 11:30 a.m. MST, “Hi. Where in the world are you?,” said Boissonnault which prompted Anderson to call him.
“We fully discussed this account. That was it. I forwarded the messages from Purolator to Mr. Anderson and the conversation ended,” he said.
After the brief phone call, Boissonnault sent more messages to Anderson, according to Housefather, which read:
“Great to hear your voice,” he texted. “Saturday drink?”
Boissonnault said the two did not meet in the end.
Green said this admission underscores the committee’s responsibility “to continue to seek the truth” despite a recent decision by conflict of interest and ethics commissioner Konrad von Finckenstein stating that he found no evidence that Boissonnault had broken ethics laws.
“The ethics commissioner has not necessarily said ‘case closed’ in the way Mr Boissonnault would like people to think. What the ethics commissioner said is based on the information the minister gave him, and absent other information, he didn’t have enough to move forward with it (an investigation),” Green said.
Alice Hansen, Boissonnault’s communications director, said Green was “speculating for political gain.”
In recent months, von Finckenstein has asked Boissonnault to send him his phone logs and text communications for September 6 to September 8, 2022, the dates Anderson said he consulted with “Randy.”
According to a letter obtained by Global News, Boissonnault told the ethics commissioner that there were no texts between him and Anderson on September 6 or September 7, so he did not submit any. He informed von Finckenstein about the short phone call.
When asked if the minister had informed von Finckenstein of the texts of 6 September, Hansen replied with a statement that he did not answer the question directly.
“Minister Boissonnault has shared his text messages with the Commissioner’s office and the Commissioner was aware of his conversation with Mr. Anderson,” Hansen wrote.
He did not respond to subsequent questions about what subjects he was referring to in the statement.
Both Green and Villemure said the ethics commissioner is limited in his ability to investigate conflicts of interest due to existing laws in place, which they say need to be revised.
“We need to seriously strengthen the independent investigative nature of the ethics commissioner to actually have powers to demand documents, not just by voluntary disclosure,” Green said.
In the absence of that, Green said the House of Commons must use its power to demand Anderson produce the remaining documents so the opposition can hold the Liberal government to account.
“It’s fair to say it’s far from over.”
(Except translation, this story has not been edited by achinews staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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