When we come back, the latest on the notorious Liberal MP from Edmonton Centre and the Employment Minister, Randy Boissoneau, when we return. When we return, we are in a very precarious position in this country. We need political change, but we also need to resolve to resist censorship.
00:06:46.420We better keep pushing, keep pressing, because I tell you, the evidence is overwhelming that there's a problem here.
00:06:52.220Now, let's have a look at why there's a problem here.
00:06:59.200And let's have a look at some of the background here, just in case you need to get up to speed.
00:07:04.380If I haven't fully articulated the problem here, let's listen to somebody else doing that.
00:07:09.300This Ethics Commissioner says he is looking into the business dealings of Liberal Cabinet Minister Randy Boissoneau.
00:07:15.220The reverse course from Commissioner Conrad von Finkenstein follows Global News' reporting about the minister's ties to a lobbyist and medical supply company embroiled in lawsuits.
00:07:26.920Boissoneau says he's followed ethics and lobbying rules.
00:07:29.760But as Krista Hesse reports, new text messages obtained by Global News raises questions about the minister's potential involvement in a business deal a year after he was elected.
00:07:40.860I have had no operational involvement in this company since I was elected.
00:07:44.280Employment Minister Randy Boissoneau fielded questions from Ethics Committee members about his ties to a lobbyist and a medical supply company.
00:07:53.020The central question is whether Boissoneau broke ethics and lobbying rules by using his position in government to benefit his former business associates, Kirsten Poon and Steven Anderson, and whether the minister himself benefited.
00:08:06.560Global News revealed Boissoneau accepted payments from Poon, who lobbied a department where he was associate minister at the time.
00:08:14.980His office says those are very delayed payments from work completed in 2020 and 2021.
00:08:21.100When was the last time you received money from her?
00:08:22.800There were no, that, no, no monies were received by any company that I'm responsible for from Ms. Poon in 2024.
00:08:32.680Questions also focused on Global Health Imports, or GHI, a company Boissoneau co-founded in 2020 with Anderson while he was out of office.
00:08:42.760He was re-elected a year later and says he then resigned from GHI.
00:08:46.680But texts obtained by Global News raise questions as to whether Boissoneau may have discussed a business deal with Anderson while he was serving as a cabinet minister.
00:08:59.380Malvina Gowie, owner of the Gowie Group, a PPE company, received texts from Anderson pushing for a deposit on a purchase.
00:09:06.980Anderson forwards her a text from a person he calls Randy, asking why it hasn't been sent yet and to be available in 15 for a partner call.
00:09:16.940Thirty minutes later, Gowie got another message from Anderson, saying he has spoken to Randy.
00:09:22.980In a statement, the Gowie Group said it has not had any direct communication with Boissoneau,
00:09:28.400but that Anderson had told Gowie Boissoneau was a partner in GHI and a public official.
00:09:35.660The Edmonton Centre MP owns a 50% stake in GHI, which is allowed as long as the public office holder doesn't manage or operate the business.
00:09:45.460Boissoneau's office denies he communicated with Anderson about the Gowie Group, saying he is not the Randy in the texts.
00:09:52.020The Gowie Group has filed a lawsuit alleging Anderson has stolen the nearly half a million dollar deposit and committed fraud.
00:10:00.560Boissoneau is not named in that lawsuit, and Anderson denies the claim.
00:10:05.300Anderson said another Randy works at GHI, but would not disclose the employee's full name.
00:10:11.440Global News was unable to verify any details related to a second employee named Randy.
00:12:15.740Alberta Premier Daniel Smith announced that she was going to change the gender ideology policies in the province so that five year olds or well,
00:12:23.86010 year olds could no longer get sex changes automatically because she thought that was a bad idea.
00:12:29.980Randy thinks that's just like joining the chess club.
00:12:33.260And he comes on and he says he was on all night long talking to trans kids.
00:15:19.280All right, that's a great little video put together by Member of Parliament Stephen Barrett, who is sort of the Conservative Party lead on this issue with the Ethics Committee.
00:15:42.180He's doing a great job, along with Michael Cooper from Edmonton, who's doing a great job as well, going after Boissoneau on this.
00:15:52.500And I hope they get Cooper on the show sometime this summer.
00:15:56.660We were talking about this before the house recessed.
00:15:59.360And at that time, they thought Randy had gotten off scot-free.