One company, in the group that will build Alto, has a heavy history of bribing to get contracts.

Bribery, to get construction contracts, is part of the history of SNC-Lavalin – a major partner in a group of companies that has been chosen to build Alto high-speed rail.

In fact, a vice-president of SNC-Lavalin pleaded guilty in 2018 to bribing the federal Liberal party with $110,000 in donations. (see Wikipedia article below)

They paid off Libya's dictator too. In 2019, SNC-Lavalin pleaded guilty to fraud charges related to bribes. "The company stated that, between 2001 and 2011, over $47.5 million in bribes had been paid to Al-Saadi Gaddafi." (Wikipedia)

In 2019, SNC-Lavalin's chief executive officer (CEO) pleaded guilty to fraud, conspiracy, and forgery. This was in relation to a giant bribe of at least $10 million, to get a construction contract to build a new Montreal hospital. 

SNC-Lavalin's vice president Riadh Ben Aissa was sentenced to 39 months in prison for his part in the bribery.

In 2023, SNC-Lavalin changed its name to AtkinsRéalis. It's possible that the change was made to help people forget the history of bribes and corruption. We don't know.

AtkinsRéalis is part of a construction company group that got the contract for the Alto project. 

We're not suggesting that bribes were given to get that $80 billion contract. All we know is that bribes are part of the company's recent history.

It may be significant that the Alto project was approved by the Prime Minister in 2025 without consulting Parliament, and without time for discussion by the public. 

Why was the project approved rapidly out of the blue? We don't know.