National
Bureaucrat booze bill cost taxpayers $51,000 a month
From the Canadian Taxpayers Federation
By Ryan Thorpe
“Working” in government may be a thirsty profession, but a booze tab of $51,000 a month is definitely a problem.
And the problem gets worse when the bill is sent to taxpayers.
Global Affairs Canada bureaucrats spent more than $3.3 million on alcohol between January 2019 and May 2024, according to access-to-information records obtained by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.
That means the department spent an average of $51,000 on beer, wine and spirits per month.
“The government is wasting our tax dollars faster than we can say bottoms up,” said Franco Terrazzano, CTF Federal Director. “Is any politician going to look a single struggling Canadian in the eye and try to justify the government spending thousands of dollars on wine tastings and cocktail parties?”
The largest single order from Global Affairs Canada came on Feb. 20, 2019, when bureaucrats in Washington, D.C., spent $56,684 on “wine purchases from special store.”
Other large orders include $9,815 worth of wine expensed by bureaucrats in Beijing, China, in March 2021, and $8,912 worth of wine expensed by bureaucrats in New Delhi, India, in May 2022.
Orders flown off to bureaucrats in far flung locales like Oslo, Tokyo, Moscow and London routinely run into the thousands of dollars per shipment.
At times, the records obtained by the CTF indicate the alcohol was purchased for a specific purpose – such as an official event or reception, or in one case, a $1,024 booze-filled “trivia night.”
But in many cases, the records provide no explanation beyond “bulk alcohol purchase” or “replenishment of wine stock.”
“The price of booze went up when Ottawa increased alcohol taxes, but that’s not a good excuse for these runaway bills,” Terrazzano said. “I like to party as much as the next guy, but maybe these bureaucrats could chill it on the cold ones when the government is more than $1 trillion in debt and taxpayers are struggling.”
On March 19, 2019, bureaucrats in San Jose, California, expensed $8,153 worth of booze. Just 12 days later, those bureaucrats spent another $2,196 on booze.
On Jan. 23, 2020, bureaucrats in Reykjavik, Iceland, bought $8,074 worth of booze, only to follow it up with a $2,849 alcohol purchase less than two months later.
Roughly $1.9 million of the spending came under the Canadian Alcoholic Beverages Abroad program, formerly known as the Canadian Wine Initiative.
The Canadian Wine Initiative was launched in 2004 with a mandate of supporting the country’s booze industry by promoting it abroad.
The rest of the spending was miscellaneous alcohol purchases billed to taxpayers. The records obtained by the CTF give no indication any of the $3.3 million spent on alcohol was recouped by taxpayers.
An access-to-information analyst at Global Affairs Canada told the CTF the department doesn’t centrally track its alcohol purchases. As a result, it’s possible Global Affairs Canada spent more than $3.3. million on booze.
The records obtained by the CTF only detail alcohol purchases from Global Affairs Canada. According to the government of Canada’s website, there are more than 200 other federal departments, Crown corporations and agencies.
“These bureaucrats seem like they’re having a good time, but what value are taxpayers getting from this huge booze bill?” Terrazzano said. “Billing taxpayers $51,000 a month for booze is mind boggling, but what’s even crazier is this tab is just for one government department.”
From LifeSiteNews
“Hey Russians! Where the hell is my money?!”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau claimed U.S media personality Tucker Carlson and popular Canadian psychologist Dr. Jordan Peterson are being funded by a Russian-state-funded news site, blaming the foreign nation for “amplifying the chaos” surrounding the 2022 Freedom Convoy protests.
Trudeau made the claim Wednesday during under oath testimony at the Foreign Interference Commission, after he was asked about Russia’s alleged role in the Freedom Convoy.
Trudeau said, while speaking in French, that he “certainly agrees that Russia amplified the chaos, disagreements and divisions in Canada surrounding the convoy.”
Trudeau added that “Russian activities related to propaganda, disinformation and misinformation are quite constant in our social media and within Canadian democracy.” He then claimed that it was “Russian propaganda” that “greatly amplified” opposition to the COVID shots which was spread by “right-wing media.”
He then claimed that Russian state-funded broadcaster Russia Today (RT) was funding Carlson and Peterson, saying, “We saw many of these channels shift to pro-Putin propaganda.”
“We recently saw that RT is funding right-wing bloggers and YouTube personalities in North America,” said Trudeau, adding, “including well-known names like Jordan Peterson or Tucker Carlson to amplify messages that destabilize democracies.”
Trudeau’s comments were immediately blasted by Peterson.
“Hey Russians! Where the hell is my money?!” he wrote on X Wednesday about Trudeau’s accusatory comments.
Hey Russians!
Where the hell is my money?!@justintrudeau strikes again
Whiffing at a foul ballhttps://t.co/cQgdC2Cx2H— Dr Jordan B Peterson (@jordanbpeterson) October 16, 2024
Peterson then joked that a bunch of Russian “Rubles” are stuffed in his bed.
Peterson’s daughter also took to social media, suggesting that Trudeau’s comments might warrant a lawsuit from her father.
“This might be worth suing about,” wrote Mikhaila Peterson on X.
This might be worth suing about. As much fun as lawsuits are, this seems like an easy one.
— Mikhaila Peterson (@MikhailaFuller) October 16, 2024
“As much fun as lawsuits are, this seems like an easy one,” she added.
As of press time, Carlson, who has been an open critic of the prime minister, has yet to issue a statement in response to Trudeau’s allegations.
Currently, the Commission on Foreign Interference, which is largely focused on Chinese meddling in Canadian politics, is taking place in Ottawa, headed by Justice Marie-Josée Hogue. She had earlier said she and her lawyers will remain “impartial” and will not be influenced by politics. In January, Hogue said that she would “uncover the truth whatever it may be.”
The commission was struck after Trudeau’s special rapporteur, former Governor General David Johnston, failed in an investigation into CCP allegations last year after much delay. That inquiry was not done in public and was headed by Johnston, who is a “family friend” of Trudeau.
Johnston quit as “special rapporteur” after a public outcry following his conclusion that there should not be a public inquiry into the matter. Conservative MPs demanded Johnston be replaced over his ties to both China and the Trudeau family.
The potential meddling in Canada’s elections by agents of the CCP has many Canadians worried as well.
As for Trudeau, he has praised China for its “basic dictatorship” and has labeled the authoritarian nation as his favorite country other than his own.
Peterson for his part has been critical of Trudeau and his Liberal government for years.
From the Fraser Institute
When federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault recently criticized Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre for hosting a fundraiser that included an oil company executive, he raised an interesting question. How should our politicians—of all parties—engage with Canada’s natural resource sector and the industry leaders that drive our natural resource economy?
Consider a recent report by the Chamber of Commerce, entitled Canada’s Natural Wealth, which notes that Canada’s natural resources sector contributed $464 billion to Canada’s economy (measured by real GDP) and supported 3 million jobs in 2023. That represented 21 per cent of the national economy and 15 per cent of employment.
Within the natural resources sector, mining, oil and gas, and pipeline transmission represent 45 per cent of all GDP impact from the sector. Oil and gas production accounted for $71 billion in GDP in 2023. If you throw in the support sector for oil and gas production, and for manufacturing petroleum and coal products, that number reaches nearly $100 billion in GDP.
Shouldn’t any responsible leader want to regularly consult with industry leaders in the natural resource sector to determine how they can facilitate expansion of the sector’s contribution to Canada’s economy?
The Chamber also notes that the natural resource sector is a massive contributor to Canada’s balance of trade, reporting that last year the “sector generated $377 billion in exports, accounting for nearly 50% of Canada’s merchandise exports, and a $228 billion trade surplus (that is, exports over imports) —critical for offsetting trade deficits (more imports than exports) in other sectors.”
Again, shouldn’t all government leaders want to work with industry leaders to promote even more natural resource trade and exports?
The natural resource sector also accounts for one out of every seven jobs in Canada’s economy, and the wages offered in the natural resource sector are higher than the national average—annual wages in the sector were $25,000 above the national average in 2023. And workers in the sector are about 2.5 times more productive, meaning they contribute more to the economy compared to workers in other industries.
One more time—shouldn’t all of Canada’s political leaders, regardless of political stripe, want to work with natural resource producers to create more high-paying jobs for more Canadians?
Finally, the Chamber of Commerce report suggests that some environmental policies require swift reform. Proliferating regulations have made investing in Canada a “riskier and more costly proposition.” The report notes that carbon pricing, Clean Fuel Regulations, proposed Clean Electricity Regulations, proposed federal emissions cap and proposed methane regulations all deter investment in Canada. Which means less economic opportunity for many Canadian workers.
With so much of Canada’s economic prosperity at stake, it’s not improper—as Guilbeault and others suggest—for any politician to meet with and seek political support from Canada’s natural resource industry leaders. Indeed, to not meet with and listen to these leaders would be an act of economic recklessness and constitute imprudent leadership of the worst kind.
Author:
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