Champagne says Conservative probes into Alto connection are ‘just politics’

OTTAWA — Finance Minister Francois Philippe Champagne is brushing off Conservative calls for an investigation into his personal relationship with an Alto executive and the proposed high-speed rail project as “just politics.”

Michael Barrett, the Conservative ethics critic, is trying to get the ethics committee to summon Champagne and Ethics Commissioner Konrad von Finckenstein to answer questions.

In September, Champagne recused himself from decisions about the high-speed rail project a month after his partner, Anne-Marie Gaudet, became an Alto vice-president.

“As far as I’m concerned, I’ve been very, very transparent, very upfront in a sense that you don’t need to take my words, but the words of the commissioner, who says not only there’s no conflict, but he said there’s no risk of conflict because Alto is a Crown corporation that reports to Parliament,” Champagne said during a media conference from Washington.

Barrett pointed out Thursday that Champagne introduced the omnibus budget bill, which includes funding for Alto to work on the rail project.

“Why wasn’t the bill with respect to the high-speed rail network act brought forward by the transport minister and not by the finance minister?” he said.

The Conservatives want the ethics committee to examine decisions made by the government about Alto since Gaudet’s hiring and accuse the Liberals of filibustering the request to prevent the study from happening.

Alto is the Crown corporation responsible for the $90-billion high-speed rail project that would connect Toronto and Quebec City.

Champagne said Friday he’s been very transparent about his personal relationship and that Finckenstein has been clear that there is no conflict of interest in this case.

“I’ve respected all the rules and that went even beyond what was suggested to me by the commissioner, to avoid any sense of potential or possible conflict of interest. So, you know, when you do all the right things you have to accept that the rest is just politics,” Champagne said.

Champagne said that ultimately MPs on the committee will decide who they want to call as witnesses.

Currently, the Bloc Québécois holds the deciding vote on the ethics committee, with an even split between Liberals and Conservatives. But the balance of power may shift if the Liberals use their new majority government to change the makeup of committees.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 17, 2026.

—With files from Sarah Ritchie.

David Baxter, The Canadian Press