Champagne's Alto Ties Spark Ethics Flap

0:00It's April 7th. From your city to your ears, this is Calgary News Today, powered by AI. I'm Cory with the story. Finance Minister Francois Philippe Champagne sent a letter to Prime Minister Mark Carney on September 10th, 2025, disclosing A. Personal connection to ALTO, the government subsidiary running Canada's high-speed rail project from Toronto to Quebec City. His partner, Anne Marie Garde, had just been hired as ALTO's Vice President of Environment in August. Less than two months later, Champagne's first federal budget pumped hundreds of millions into ALTO, including $597 million. Dollars for pre-construction work next year, nearly 4 billion over six years for development, and another 125 million approvals. That letter is posted on the ethics commissioner's website, where ministers normally share conflict disclosures, unlike screens for other assets. Like Champagne's father's company, his team says he proactively flagged to avoid any real or perceived issues

1:05and has fully recuse himself from ALTO-related decisions, noting ALTO's. Status as a government entity sets it apart from private firms. Experts like ethics specialist Ian Stedman are calling FOW, saying the letter and screen should be public on the commissioner's site as required. Not. Just sent to the Prime Minister. It's tough to verify if Champagne stayed out of budget talks, benefiting ALTO, especially with the massive deficit projected at 78.3 billion dollars this year. The high-speed rail promises jobs, safer travel, less congestion, time savings, tourism boost, and green benefits, but critics slam the 90 billion plus price tag, doubt ridership, and question environmental gains if electric cars dominate by the time it opens in the 2000s. 40s. Construction won't starve for three or four more years. This ethics flap adds fuel to debates over the project's future, especially with conservatives vowing to axe it over costs and land grabs if they win. Power.