Liberals accused of ‘filibustering’ vote on motion to have Boissonnault witnesses testify

The ethics committee was suspended for the second time this week as MPs faced off over a motion for cabinet minister Randy Boissonnault’s business associates to testify.

Liberal MPs are rejecting Opposition efforts to call Employment Minister Randy Boissonnault’s business associates to testify before the parliamentary ethics committee, saying Conservative members are abusing committee powers.

“This is not a responsible way of going about this. If we were to let the ethics commissioner look into this matter, that might be the more responsible approach,” Liberal MP Iqra Khalid said in committee on Tuesday.

She argued against witnesses appearing before the committee and a previous amendment to the motion that would’ve forced Stephen Anderson, who co-owns a Global Health Imports (GHI) with Boissonnault, to hand over a list of current and former employees of the medical supply company.

“Asking an employer to reveal the identities of every single employee his company has ever had…It is the definition of overboard,” Khalid said.

NDP and Conservative members of the committee accused Liberal members of filibustering the vote on the motion put forward on June 4 by Tory MP Michael Barrett. The ethics committee was suspended for the second time this week before a vote could be held.

“The Liberals are doing backflips, trying to make excuses and muddy the waters to say, ‘Okay, well, phone records, but not witnesses,” Tory MP Damien Kurek said in committee on Tuesday. “It all comes down to a very, very, very simple question: Who is this individual referred to as ‘Randy’ in these text messages?”

Last week, Global News reported that someone named “Randy” had allegedly sent messages to Anderson instructing him on how to handle a business transaction in September 2022. Boissonnault was tourism minister and associate finance minister at the time.

In the text exchange obtained by Global News, Anderson urged Ghaoui to wire a $500,000 deposit for a large shipment of nitrile gloves Ghaoui was to purchase from GHI. Anderson apparently forwarded her a message directly from a frustrated “Randy” asking him why the money hadn’t been sent yet.