I gave proper notice of motion, Chair, and I'd like to move a motion now.
The motion is:
That pursuant to standing order 108(3)(h) and in light of new media reports, the committee undertake an immediate study into Minister Randy Boissonnault’s allegations of fraud and contravention of ethics and lobbying laws; that the committee invite Minister Randy Boissonnault for three hours, Kirsten Poon, Stephen Anderson of Global Health Imports, and the Ethics Commissioner to testify individually in addition to any other relevant witnesses; and that the committee report its findings to the House.
Chair, the motion is incredibly important. We heard from the minister yesterday when he testified at the Standing Committee on Human Resources. He first said he wasn't paid and then he said that he was paid. We know that the minister is having a real tough time keeping his story straight. This speaks to of course questions of the Lobbying Act. It speaks to the Conflict of Interest Act. It speaks to the Conflict of Interest Code for members.
When we're talking about a minister of the Crown, it's incredibly important that Canadians know that they've arranged their private affairs in such a way that they're not furthering their own private interests. We see that in Minister Boissonnault's case there are a whole lot of question marks on whether he did that. In registering one name with the Ethics Commissioner that was not the trading name of the company, it looks like there's some subterfuge happening. It looks like he's trying to hide what he's doing. A company that is paying a minister while they're in cabinet, and that company is simultaneously lobbying that minister's own department and lobbying the government, and his efforts, his company's efforts, did get more than $100 million for his client, in one case a $10-million project. The minister even announced the project while he was collecting cheques from the company that did the lobbying work.
In another case, with Global Health Imports, his other business interest, we of course have the questions raised in Global News about the fact that the minister was listed as a director. This company is getting contracts with municipal and provincial governments, and big players in that space are wondering how it is that this two-man shop that's reselling personal protective equipment is able to land contracts that they're not able to.
Having a federal cabinet minister listed as a director for your company seems to get results. For that company, of course, there have now been allegations of fraud and wire fraud made against the minister's partner there. These are incredibly troubling allegations that have come forward, and it behooves us, based on the mandate of this committee, to of course address that.
This witness list could be addressed over a couple of short meetings and would give us the opportunity to provide transparency to Canadians where that seems to have failed, both in the minister's most recent appearance at committee and also in his disclosures to officers of Parliament.