The office of the federal ethics commissioner says Finance Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne’s personal relationship with a senior manager at the Crown corporation responsible for building high-speed rail does not constitute a conflict of interest.
In an email seen by CTV News, an adviser from the Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner (OCIEC) stated that “there is no risk of conflict of interest and that a screen is not required.”
Champagne’s partner, Anne-Marie Gaudet, was hired as Alto’s vice-president of environment in August 2025.
In the email, a compliance officer assigned to Champagne, said that Alto, as a Crown corporation, is accountable to Parliament through the minister of transport.
“As minister of finance, you have no decision-making authority over matters of human resources at Alto, you do not have the opportunity to further the interest of any specific Alto employee,” the ethics adviser wrote in response to a request from Champagne to confirm that he had met his obligations under the Conflict of Interest Act.
The Alto federal project aims to connect Quebec City with Toronto and will cost an estimated $90 billion. So far, nearly $4 billion has been announced for the project, but Champagne’s office says that money was allocated before he became finance minister.
Steps taken ‘proactively’
The email supports Champagne’s assertion that he had proactively taken steps above and beyond the rules for federal politicians.
On Sept. 10, Champagne sent a letter to Prime Minister Mark Carney and the OCIEC to inform them of his relationship to an Alto executive.
In the letter, Champagne writes that he is “proactively applying a conflict-of-interest filter to Alto, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Government of Canada. This measure is being implemented due to a personal connection to someone close to me in the organization to safeguard against any real or perceived conflict of interest.”
Champagne said that the conflict of interest filters would be administered by his chief of staff and the deputy finance minister – and that Wayne Long, secretary of state for the Canada Revenue Agency, would participate in those votes and discussions in his place.
The finance minister had requested clarification from the ethics watchdog after it emerged that Champagne’s relationship with Gaudet was not disclosed by the OCIEC. The watchdog says that family connections of elected officials are not made public in its posted summaries.
His office had previously told CTV News that he had met with his ethics adviser in July 2025 after Gaudet was offered a job with Alto.
Gaudet, who on LinkedIn describes herself as an expert in “managing complex sustainability projects,” officially started her work with the corporation on Aug. 13. Champagne sent his letter to the prime minister one month later.
Conservative criticism
The clarification by the watchdog’s office was obtained by CTV News, four hours after Conservative MP Michael Barrett posted on social media that he had sent a letter to federal ethics commissioner Konrad Von Fickenstein, asking him to investigate Champagne.
“The legislation that benefits Alto was included in the finance minister’s budget. And nothing ends up in the budget that the finance minister hasn’t put eyes on or hasn’t contributed to,” Barrett said in an interview with CTV News.
“Whether it’s the budget or the Budget Implementation Act or any number of other votes that the minister has taken part in, this is inappropriate for someone close to them, described in media reporting as their partner, to be continuing to further this legislation.”
Barrett represents the riding of Leeds-Grenville-Thousand Islands which is along the proposed Alto corridor. The MP says a recent survey of his constituents showed 89 per cent of respondents were against the project.
Champagne delivered his first budget last November. In the 2025 budget, there is no new money earmarked for Alto, but the finance minister did state that the government wanted to fast-track approvals for the project.
Funding announced under Trudeau
More than a year ago, former prime minister Justin Trudeau announced $3.9 billion in investments for the high-speed rail project in February 2025. At the time, Champagne was the minister of innovation.
Champagne became finance minister in March 2025 after he was appointed by Carney following his Liberal leadership win.
During a news conference in Brampton on Tuesday, Carney said Champagne had recused himself and “followed the rules,” and that the guidelines help ensure partners of cabinet ministers can have careers.
“(We have) a minister of finance who can do his responsibilities and we have other ministers who can take on their responsibilities,” Carney said.
The prime minister added that Alto will contribute $35 billion to the economy and create more than 50,000 jobs.
The rail line will stretch across 1,000 kilometres, with stops in Trois-Rivieres, Laval, Montreal, Ottawa and Peterborough.
More than 18 million people will be connected by the rail line.
But there is considerable opposition in the rural communities that the train could cut across. Not including cities, the proposed corridor cuts across roughly 17 rural federal ridings in Quebec and Ontario. Liberals currently represent five of those ridings.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has recently said that if he were prime minister, he would cancel the project, which he calls “pie-in-the-sky” and a “$90-billion Liberal boondoggle.”
Clarification
For privacy reasons CTV News has removed the name of Champagne’s ethics adviser, who was named in an earlier version.
