Business
Global Affairs goes on March Madness spending spree, buys $9,900 Lego set
From the Canadian Taxpayers Federation
By Ryan Thorpe
Global Affairs Canada bought $527,000 worth of artwork during year-end spending sprees in 2023 and 2024 – a practice commonly referred to as “March Madness.”
Bureaucrats even spent $9,900 on “Lego blocks,” according to access-to-information records obtained by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.
“If you want proof that government bureaucrats have way too many tax dollars on their hands, look no further than Global Affairs Canada’s half-a-million dollar March Madness art spending spree,” said Franco Terrazzano, CTF Federal Director. “It’s supremely disrespectful to taxpayers to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on art they’ll never see in far-flung embassies.”
The government of Canada’s fiscal year runs from April 1 to March 31.
On March 31, 2023, GAC bureaucrats purchased 32 pieces of artwork for $160,000, according to the records.
Included in the purchases were a $25,000 “archival pigment print photograph,” a $20,000 piece of “fabric art” made of “poly-cotton, canvas, steel hanging rod” and a $3,500 piece featuring “cowhide, dyed fox fur, Swarovski crystals, caribou hair and 24K gold.”
Bureaucrats also expensed a $6,000 oil painting on canvas and a $8,500 piece of “fabric art” made of “home-tanned moose hide, cross fox fur, canvas, trim, seed beads, 24K gold beads [and] nylon thread.”
The following year, on Feb. 9, 2024, GAC bureaucrats bought 71 pieces of artwork on the same day, billing taxpayers for $291,000.
Purchases included 31 paintings costing a combined $153,000.
One bureaucrat ordered a $9,900 set of “Lego blocks,” described in government records as “mixed media.”
Then, on March 26, 2024, GAC bureaucrats expensed 12 more pieces of artwork to taxpayers, costing more than $50,000.
Included in the purchases was a $9,000 piece of “fabric art” described as “wool, cotton, embroidery floss,” and a $7,500 piece of “mixed media” described as “handmade khadi paper woven on block printed industrially.”
All told, GAC’s year-end spending spree on art the past two years cost taxpayers $527,000. For the sake of comparison, that’s enough money to cover an entire year’s grocery bills for 31 Canadian families of four.
“March Madness is a long-observed phenomenon in Ottawa which sees federal departments quickly spend all of their remaining annual budgets in the last month of the fiscal year,” according to a report from CBC.
“Every March, taxpayers are forced to watch a bad episode of bureaucrats gone wild,” Terrazzano said. “Taxpayers need the government to fully open up the books, go line by line through each department’s spending and take a chainsaw to all this waste.”
This isn’t the first time spending by GAC bureaucrats has triggered alarms bells.
GAC bureaucrats spent more than $3.3 million on alcohol between January 2019 and May 2024, according to separate access-to-information records obtained by the CTF. That means the department is spending an average of $51,000 a month on beer, wine and spirits.
The CTF has long criticized GAC spending, including a $8,800 sex toy show in Germany, $1,700 for a “Lesbian Pirates!” musical, $12,500 for senior citizens in other countries to talk about their sex lives and a $51,000 red-carpet photo exhibit for rockstar Bryan Adams.
“From sex toy shows to lesbian pirate musicals to a $9,900 Lego set, Global Affairs Canada may be the worst waste offender in the entire federal government,” Terrazzano said. “And that’s saying a lot.”
MxM News
Quick Hit:
Elon Musk announced he will consult with President Donald Trump on a proposal to issue tax refund checks to Americans using savings from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). The idea, originally suggested by Azoria CEO James Fishback, would involve distributing a portion of the funds DOGE claims to have saved from government cost-cutting measures. While Musk aims to reduce federal spending by $2 trillion, questions remain about the actual savings achieved by DOGE.
Key Details:
- Musk responded on X that he would “check with the President” regarding the proposed tax refunds.
- The plan suggests using 20% of DOGE’s $2 trillion spending cut goal—roughly $400 billion—to provide up to $5,000 per household.
- Reports indicate that DOGE’s reported savings may be overstated, with Bloomberg and the New York Times pointing to discrepancies in the numbers.
Diving Deeper:
Elon Musk’s latest proposal to return taxpayer dollars through a “DOGE Dividend” has sparked discussion on federal spending and fiscal responsibility. The initiative, first floated by James Fishback, argues that savings uncovered by DOGE’s cost-cutting efforts should be refunded to taxpayers. Fishback compared it to a private sector refund when a company fails to deliver on its promises.
Musk, who leads DOGE’s advisory group, has set an ambitious goal of cutting $2 trillion from the federal government’s $6.75 trillion budget. Under Fishback’s model, 20% of those savings—$400 billion—could be distributed among American households, potentially yielding checks of around $5,000 per family.
However, skepticism surrounds DOGE’s actual savings. Bloomberg reported that only $16.6 billion of the $55 billion in savings claimed by DOGE is accounted for on its website. The New York Times revealed a miscalculation in which DOGE erroneously reported an $8 billion saving on a federal contract that was actually $8 million.
Despite legal challenges against DOGE’s authority, a federal judge recently denied an injunction that sought to block the agency’s access to federal databases or its ability to recommend government employee firings.
The concept of direct payments from the federal government has precedent. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Trump administration issued stimulus checks to Americans, with Trump’s signature appearing on IRS payments for the first time in history. Whether the current proposal will gain traction under Trump’s leadership remains to be seen.
Musk’s willingness to discuss the idea with President Trump signals that the proposal may be seriously considered, though practical and political hurdles remain.
The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is criticizing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for borrowing billions more for high-speed rail between Toronto and Quebec City.
“Trudeau is only prime minister for another couple of weeks so he shouldn’t be borrowing billions more for a new taxpayer boondoggle,” said Franco Terrazzano, CTF Federal Director. “Somebody needs to take the credit card away from the lame duck prime minister before he puts Canada further into debt.”
The Trudeau government announced a high-speed rail line between Toronto and Quebec City.
“The co-development phase of the project represents $3.9 billion over six years,” according to the government’s news release. “This is in addition to the $371.8 million that was provided in Budget 2024.”
The government estimated a railway line between Toronto and Quebec City would cost up to $12 billion in 2021.
The federal government ran a $62-billion deficit last year. That’s $20 billion higher than its promised fiscal guardrail.
The Trudeau government doubled the debt in less than a decade. Interest charges on the debt are costing taxpayers $54 billion this year. For context, the government is wasting more money on debt interest charges than it sends to the provinces in health-care transfers.
The government already owns a railway company, VIA Rail. The government gave VIA Rail $1.8 billion over the last five years to cover its operating losses, according to the Crown corporation’s annual report.
“The government is running huge deficits and spending hundreds of millions of dollars bailing out its current train company, the last thing taxpayers need is to pay higher debt interest charges for Trudeau’s new train boondoggle,” Terrazzano said. “The government is broke, Canadians can’t afford higher taxes and Trudeau shouldn’t be borrowing billions more while he’s walking out the door.”
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