Conservatives call for ethics probe of Champagne as questions raised over high-speed rail

The conservativist company is calling on the domiciliate of common land moral philosophy watchdog to launch an investigation into whether Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne breached ethics rules regarding his partner's involvement in a federal government-funded high-speed rail project.

In a letter to Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner Konrad von Finckenstein, Conservative ethics critic Michael Barrett made the case for an investigation, pointing out that the budget that Champagne introduced last fall and has defended in both the House of Commons and committee outlines millions of dollars for Alto.

"The prospect of a finance minister making decisions as part of the federal government's budgetary process which present distinct benefits and advantages for his partner and her employer — and acting and voting in Parliament to give those effect — is a very troubling development," Barrett wrote in the letter released on Tuesday.

"An investigation is absolutely essential here, including to validate the existence and application of his unpublished — and only now revealed — 'conflict of interest filter' in addition to all of his parliamentary engagement on this matter."

John Fragos, press secretary to Champagne, said money for the high-speed rail project was first promised by Transport Minister Anita Anand in February 2025 and included in the government's main estimates in May 2025. He said that was well before the budget, which didn't include new money, and well before Gaudet first received an offer from Alto in July 2025 and started working for the company as vice-president for environment in August 2025.

Fragos said Alto is a Crown corporation and Gaudet's remuneration would not be affected by Alto's financial results.

Barrett's letter came shortly after Prime Minister Mark Carney defended Champagne, saying the minister followed all of the ethics rules when it comes to the involvement of his partner in the high-speed rail project.

Speaking to reporters in Brampton, Ont., Carney said it is important for the spouses of cabinet ministers to also be able to earn a living.

"There are rules, there are regulations and the minister of finance has followed those rules and regulations in notification of the ethics commissioner, in recusing himself from dealings with respect to Alto," said Carney.

Champagne followed rules by recusing himself from Alto dealings over partner's involvement: Carney

"We have a partner who can pursue her career and a minister of finance who can do his responsibilities. We have lots of other ministers who can take on their responsibilities and we have a project that is going to contribute more than $35 billion to our economy and create 50,000 jobs."

Carney's own ethics filing lists his wife Diana Fox Carney's assets — units of an iShares Core S&P 500 exchange-traded fund and shares and share options of TechMet Ltd — as well as contract income from General Atlantic. She has a master's degree in economics from the University of Oxford and has specialized in climate finance and investing.

Champagne's public ethics filing does not list any assets, liabilities or source of income for a spouse or common-law partner.

According to LinkedIn, Gaudet has a long track record as an executive, working previously as a vice-president for companies like consulting firm WSP and the Port of Quebec. She is also listed as Champagne's designated traveller in the House of Commons registry.

Carney's comment came following discussion on social media and news reports about Gaudet's involvement in the Alto project, given Champagne's role as finance minister.

Champagne's filing in the ethic commissioner's public registry makes no mention of any conflict screen put in place regarding Alto that would require him to recuse himself from dealing with issues regarding the company.

The only conflict screen mentioned relates to a company owned by his father Gilles Champagne, president of Bionest Technologies.

When questions surfaced online over Easter weekend, Champagne's office shared a letter addressed to Carney from Champagne saying the finance minister would recuse himself from questions related to Alto.

"I am proactively applying a conflict of interest filter to Alto, a wholly owned subsidiary of the government of Canada," the letter reads. "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."

The letter, dated Sept. 10, 2025, says the filter will be administered by Champagne's chief of staff and the deputy finance minister with the delegation of authority to secretary of state for the Canada Revenue Agency Wayne Long.

Fragos said the ethics commissioner's office determined that there was no conflict and that Champagne's proactive recusal on questions dealing with Alto did not need to be published in the public registry.

Melanie Rushworth, director of communications for the ethics commissioner's office, confirmed that Champagne had talked with the commissioner's office and that the office has received the letter from Barrett.

"We can confirm that Minister Champagne has spoken to his adviser for advice and that the office was copied on a Sept. 10, 2025, letter being covered in the news media," she said.

Benoit Bourdeau, manager of media relations for Alto, said Gaudet was hired on merit and fit the profile it was seeking.

"From the outset, she disclosed her personal connection to the minister," Bourdeau said in an emailed response. "The Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner was consulted proactively, and clear measures were put in place to prevent any real or perceived conflict."

He said Gaudet "is strictly focused on interactions with the federal public service" and "is not involved with ministerial offices, including those of Transport or Finance."

Duff Conacher, co-founder of Democracy Watch, said the system of ethics screens is ineffective. 

"Ethics screens should be banned because they are secretive smokescreens that are not independently enforced and do not prevent cabinet ministers and top government officials from participating in decision-making processes when they have a conflict of interest," he said.

"[They] hide the fact that the office holder is participating even when they or their family members or friends can profit or benefit from the decision."

Whether Champagne participated in decisions about Alto is only known by Champagne, his chief of staff and a small number of cabinet ministers and top government officials, Conacher said.

"That is clearly a secretive, closed-circle, unethical system that provides no evidence that Champagne actually recused himself from decisions concerning Alto," he said.

Senior reporter

---

---