Elections Canada is blaming an “internal error” for not disclosing a contract given to a cabinet minister’s company after a third ethics investigation into Employment Minister Randy Boissonnault's ties to Global Health Imports (GHI) was launched last month.

The non-partisan government agency awarded GHI a $28,298.03 contract on January 5 to supply them with disposable gloves. The contract remains active and was procured through a competitive bidding process.

At the time, Minister Boissonnault had a 50% stake in GHI.

To date, no payments have been made to the supplier, the agency confirmed.

"We need that independent investigation," said Conservative MP Michael Barrett, who intends to forward the contract details to the parliamentary ethics commissioner. 

A medical supply company, co-owned by Employment Minister Randy Boissonnault, received a federal contract while he was in office, records show. At the time, he had a 50% stake in Global Health Imports (GHI).https://t.co/vhAZonnneb

— Rebel News (@RebelNewsOnline) August 22, 2024

"Randy Boissonnault should not be serving in the federal cabinet if he is found guilty of breaking Canada’s ethics laws," he claimed since Ministers cannot hold shares in a private company that obtain federal contracts, according to Section 13(2) of the Conflict of Interest Act. 

The minister claimed ignorance of the contract, reporting that he had no involvement with the company after resigning as a director of GHI in the fall of 2021.

However, he was listed as a company director for 16 months after a return to politics. Boissonnault claims it took federal and provincial registries that long to update the company page. 

But the narrative changed with the revelation of text exchanges disclosed in a committee hearing.

GHI, which bid on municipal and provincial government contracts in subsequent years, claimed a warehouse arson shuttered their operations. The Elections Canada contract, which commenced in January, is further evidence GHI continued to operate.

CPC's Garnett Genuis is trying to figure out how the Ethics Commissioner, who now admits to investigating more dates and details about Liberal MP Randy Boissonnault's business dealings, can get all the information he needs from Randy.

Apparently, we are relying on the honour… pic.twitter.com/tRbrEXLRUG

— Sheila Gunn Reid (@SheilaGunnReid) August 8, 2024

Conflict of interest exemptions exist if the commissioner finds the contract or interest is "unlikely to affect the exercise of the official powers, duties and functions" of the minister.

Alice Hansen, Boissonnault’s director of communications, contends an exemption should apply. "The awarding of a contract the minister had no involvement in, to a company he had no operational role in, by an agency he has no authority over, would in no way affect the exercise of his official powers, duties and functions as a minister of the Crown," she said.

Access to Information laws dictate that federal contracts over $10,000 must be disclosed quarterly, with posting done no more than 30 days after. Elections Canada attributed the delay to an “internal error.”

“The contract was not posted within the usual timeline due to an internal error. It was posted in the subsequent quarterly release,” Elections Canada told Global in an email statement. That would put the release for sometime in July.

Randy Boissonnault's business partner, Stephen Anderson's opening statement. He first says the Randy making business decisions in his text messages was an autocorrect mistake.

But then he says there is another Randy, and we can only learn about him secretly.

Ok seems legit pic.twitter.com/lX3hMSuJhD

— Sheila Gunn Reid (@SheilaGunnReid) July 17, 2024

In June, the minister surrendered his stakes in GHI without compensation, over the politicization of his shareholder status, his office said.

Elections Canada claimed ignorance on whether it was aware Boissonnault owned a stake in GHI at the time the contract was awarded. “We are following the situation and would wait for a decision of the ethics commissioner on this matter before determining if and how it impacts the contract,” the agency said.

It remains unclear at publication whether the ethics commissioner is looking into the contract. A spokesperson declined to comment, citing confidentiality.