OTTAWA — Finance Minister Francois-Phillippe Champagne says he “followed all the rules” to make sure he wasn’t in a conflict of interest related to the Alto high-speed rail project.
The minister is testifying today at the parliamentary ethics committee after months of scrutiny from the federal Conservatives about his involvement in the proposed $90-billion high-speed rail project between Toronto and Quebec City.
Champagne has said he proactively reached out to the federal ethics commissioner in July when his partner got a job offer to become a vice-president at the Crown corporation spearheading the project.
He says the commissioner told him there was no risk of a conflict of interest because he has no power over human resources matters at Alto but he still instituted a screen to recuse himself from specific decisions about Alto just to be safe.
Conservative MPs demanded he explain why he voted on the Alto project if he had that screen in place.
Champagne says the principle of “general application” allows him to participate in House business and accused the Conservatives of politicizing and undermining public trust in the project.
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