Reader's Guide to the Boissonno Investigation | Globalnews.ca

The parliamentary ethics committee will examine the business affairs of Employment Minister Randy Boissonnault on Tuesday, June 4 at 11 a.m. ET.

The Edmonton Centre MP and entrepreneur narrowly won the 2021 election and is the only federal cabinet minister to represent Alberta.

Committee members will ask him about his business ties to a lobbying firm and a medical supply company, which were revealed in Global News reports published in late April and early May.

The hearing is likely to involve tracing payments across a network of businesses linked to the minister and asking whether those payments complied with the Conflict of Interest Act, the Lobbying Act, the Lobbyists' Code of Conduct and the Code of Open and Accountable Government.

Below is a guide for future issues that expand the map of connections between key players.

The question is likely to be whether the minister and his business partners benefited from his position in the cabinet.

The ethics committee launched its investigation on May 7 after Global News revealed that Paine, a rookie federal lobbyist who took control of two of Boisonno’s dormant small businesses after Boisonno’s election, had recruited senior federal political operatives as part of her work for her consulting firm, Navis Group. $110 million in federal fundingShe lobbied the minister's adviser when Boisonneau was deputy minister of Canada's finance ministry.

Global Health Imports (GHI), a medical supplies startup co-founded by Boissonnault and former ice hockey coach Stephen Anderson, has also successfully competed with domestic and multinational companies. GHI has won At least $8.2 million in provincial and municipal contracts According to Global News, that number will be between 2020 and 2022.

GHI, which has been plagued by legal disputes, has faced six lawsuits, with courts awarding plaintiffs $7.8 million in debt and damages. GHI settled one lawsuit for not filing a defense and lost five others in absentia. One of GHI's buyers also filed a lawsuit alleging fraud against Anderson and two other GHI employees.

Boysono is not named in any of the lawsuits and said he had no improper dealings with lobbying firm Navis Group or GHI.

“Minister Boissonneau has always complied with all conflicts of interest and ethical obligations as a public official,” his communications director Alice Hansen told Global News.

“Minister Boysono was not involved in any of Ms. Pan's lobbying activities,” Hansen said. “We have taken all necessary steps to avoid any conflicts of interest.”

Regarding Global Health Imports, Hansen said Boysono “did not participate in these actions” after he was elected in September 2021. She explained that Boysono resigned as a director of the company before taking office, as required by law.

Ms. Pan of Navis Group told Global News: “There is nothing inappropriate in the work I do. I take all applicable laws, regulations and ethical standards very seriously.”

Anderson declined to comment because of the ongoing legal proceedings.

The documents do not indicate Boissonnault violated any laws or regulations, according to attorneys and other political law experts consulted by Global News. Still, some are calling for ethics and lobbying commissioners to investigate further.

In response to a letter from Ontario MP Michael Barrett, the ethics commissioner declined to investigate.

Ethics committee members are likely to investigate whether ministerial advisers whom Pan lobbied felt a sense of obligation because of her relationship with Boysono. He was tourism minister and deputy finance minister when she contacted officials in late 2021 and 2022.

The Lobbyist Code of Conduct, a set of rules derived from the Lobbying Act, warns federal lobbyists never to promote themselves to an official who “could reasonably be viewed as having a duty of care to you.”

Poon began lobbying for her client, the Edmonton Regional Airports Authority, when she was a lobbyist for Boissonnault's small consulting firm, Xennex Venture Catalysts.

Xennex was awarded the contract after Boissonnault lost his seat in the September 2019 election. Former councillors are prohibited from lobbying for five years after leaving office, so Boissonnault hired Poon, who was then a consultant for the Edmonton International Airport (EIA).

When Boissonnault won his seat again in the fall of 2021, Poon took control of Xennex and a holding company he owned. Xennex again shut down day-to-day operations, Hansen said. Poon resumed lobbying for the Edmonton airport under her own business, Navis Group.

Navis Group helped secure $110 million in grants, mostly to improve EIA's freight and logistics capabilities. Efforts in previous years by EIA's chief executive and lobbyists for some prominent companies had little success, according to a federal grants and donations database.

A spokesperson for the U.S. Energy Information Administration explained that federal funding is based on need.

Hansen added that the recent grants to EIA reflect “the reality of how funding for Canadian airports has changed during the COVID pandemic and under the Liberal government,” with “almost every major airport in Canada” receiving support during the pandemic.

Hansen noted that Illinois Airport is one of Canada’s largest airports and said: “The comparison you’re trying to make is better made between the Harper Conservatives and our government.”

Mr. Pan did not respond to Global News' questions about funding.

“Mr. Boysono was not involved in anything,” she said in an earlier exchange with Global News.

She explained: “Government officials at all levels met with my clients because of who they are and the critical role they play in our country, not because of me or Mr. Boissono.”

During the hearing, members are likely to focus on whether the minister's duties conflict with Pan's lobbying activities.

The laws and regulations in question derive from the Conflict of Interest Act, which need Public officials should recuse themselves from discussions, decisions, debates or votes if there is a conflict of interest between them.

Legal scholars and experts consulted by Global News are divided over whether Boysono has an obligation to clearly and publicly declare his relationship with Pan (beyond the brief mention currently listed on the ethics commissioner's register) and recuse himself from all matters relating to Pan's lobbying.

Guy Giorno, former chief of staff to prime minister Stephen Harper, told Global News the minister may have missed a step.

“If a minister informs the commissioner that a friend or business partner is lobbying the minister’s department … then the commissioner will insist on compliance measures,” explained Jono, who leads Fasken’s political law practice.

He added that if that had been done, the ethics commissioner's office would have published the additional recusation notice on the register. But that was not the case.

In contrast, a spokesman for the ethics commissioner’s office said that, in theory, if lobbyists are only contacting other officials, releasing such information “is not necessarily necessary or useful.”

On May 3, Boysono expressed the same view when answering reporters' questions.

“I have never had any responsibility or decision-making authority over the grants awarded to EIA,” he said.

Federal documents such as this Explain the complexities involved.

When Pan lobbied Canada’s Department of Finance in March 2022, she pitched the EIA’s hydrogen fuel development project, a spokesperson for the ministry told Global News.

The airport is a leader in this field, with a hydrogen fuelling “park” on site.

Meanwhile, in his capacity as tourism minister, Boysono is helping to craft a plan in the 2023 budget that also significantly increases funding for hydrogen projects.

If Boissonnault did any work related to the EIA, he could have a conflict of interest because he directly consulted for the airport as a private citizen in 2020 and 2021. He and the EIA declined to answer questions from Global News about the project.

In January 2023, Boissonnault and others announced at the Edmonton Airport that the federal government's regional development office, PrairiesCan, would provide $9.74 million in funding for the hydrogen fuel project.

The funds did not go directly to the EIA but to the Alberta Motor Transport Association, an industry nonprofit group. Campuses using EIA For research purposes.

The outcome of the committee’s review of Boysono’s finances is less predictable.

In a conflict of interest statement released publicly after taking office as minister, Boysono listed “outstanding” payments to Pan’s company, Navis Group. (Read more In this Global News article.）

Poon and Hansen said the payments were long-delayed transactions, mostly from contracts Xennex signed with the United Nations Development Program in 2020 and 2021, when Boissonnault was not in public office.

As of June 3, Boissonnault refused to answer questions about how much money he received from the Navis Group, telling opposition lawmakers the work was done while he was a private citizen.

Boissonnault could face questions about payments to Navis Group and GHI affiliates.

Boissonnault, who now owns 50 percent of GHI according to registration documents, said he received no income from the business while he was minister.

Wire transfer receipts obtained by Global News show Anderson sometimes made payments to GHI through another business, Global Healthcare Solutions (GHS).

Anderson founded GHS in October 2020 while he and Boissonnault were running GHI.

Anderson did not respond to questions about why GHI funds sometimes went into accounts held by GHS.

Hansen told Global News that Boisonnot has no stake in GHS, “and therefore, their practices are not known. Any questions regarding GHS should be directed to Mr. Anderson.”

Another issue that may come up at the hearing involves GHI’s documents. Ministers have delayed for 16 months asking that Boissonnault’s name be removed from the corporate register. Procurement professionals and industry leaders say that, at least on paper, the company’s ties to federal cabinet ministers may have helped GHI win contracts.

Boysono’s office said the minister informed him after Anderson’s election in September 2021 that he would resign as director and trusted Anderson to update the commercial register.

“(Boisono) took it upon himself to initiate the process after a long period of inaction by the current sole director,” Hansen explained.

When Global News asked Hansen for Boissonneau's resignation letter, she did not respond.

— Attached are Krista Hessey's documents.