Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

Thank you for inviting me.

With me today is my colleague Lyne Robinson‑Dalpé.

As we join you today, I recognize the weight of responsibility entrusted upon our Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner and the work of this committee. Our democracy relies fundamentally on the integrity and transparency of its elected and appointed officials and our ability to safeguard public trust.

It is with these principles in mind that I see the twofold purpose of the regimes we administer. One is to help public officials avoid and manage their conflicts of interest and the second is to facilitate the movement of qualified people in and out of the public service.

Qualified, competent, experienced people who are called to public service may well face conflicts of interest. That's not unusual. The issue is how to avoid and manage those conflicts and to protect the integrity of officials and the institutions they serve.

Minister Boissonnault is an example of someone who has moved in and out of public service, and back again. Upon his first election as a member of Parliament in 2015, he complied with the Conflict of Interest Code for Members of the House of Commons. He also complied with the Conflict of Interest Act when later appointed as parliamentary secretary.

Between 2019 and 2021, when he was not an elected or an appointed official, he resumed work with Xennex Venture Catalysts Inc., which I'll call Xennex hereafter. It's a company that was incorporated in 2000 of which he owns 100% of the shares. It is a management consulting company that gained a contract to lobby on behalf of the Edmonton Regional Airports Authority.

The minister resigned as director of Xennex when he was re-elected and again became subject to the code as a member and subject to the act as a minister.

Kirsten Poon became the director of Xennex and continued to lobby in the Xennex name on behalf of the Edmonton Regional Airports Authority until June 21. After that day, the lobbying was done in her own company's name, 2050877 Alberta Ltd., operating under the name of Navis.

Minister Boissonnault received no remuneration from Xennex after being elected and appointed minister. However, he disclosed to us that he was owed an outstanding business income from Navis. That amount was subsequently paid by Navis to Xennex.

Minister Boissonnault has 100% interest in 2256956 Alberta Limited. It in turn owns 50% of an affiliated company called Global Health Imports. His ownership of Xennex, his ownership of 2256956 Alberta Limited and his indirect partial ownership of Global Health Imports were all disclosed to my office. There is no disclosed evidence that the ownership of these companies creates any conflict of interest. He complied with the rules under the act and the code.

Considering the information that the minister has disclosed to the Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner, it appears he has complied with the requirements of the Conflict of Interest Code for Members of the House of Commons and the Conflict of Interest Act related to matters involving his companies and consequently there is no need to commence an examination.

We are in the process of the usual annual review process with the minister and will be looking at all his updated disclosures with the office.

Both Ms. Robinson-Dalpé and I are here to answer any questions you may have regarding the compliance process of the work and how we handled the file of Mr. Boissonnault.

Thank you.