From the Canadian Taxpayers Federation

By Ryan Thorpe 

Records obtained by the CTF show Clark’s lavish condo is just the tip of the iceberg, with the department dropping taxpayer cash on other luxury properties around the world.

Official residences in other countries: $38 million.

Properties in Afghanistan abandoned to the Taliban: $41 million.

Vacant land in Senegal: $12.5 million.

A chancery in Ukraine: $10.2 million.

Those are some of the holdings in Global Affairs Canada’s real estate portfolio, which has cost taxpayers $186 million in the past 10 years alone.

All told, Global Affairs Canada owns more than 400 properties in more than 70 countries, according to access-to-information records obtained by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.

“Do we really need the government dropping tens of millions of dollars on official residences half-way around the world?” said Franco Terrazzano, CTF Federal Director. “Better question, does Senegal not have vacant land available for less than eight figures?

“With the government more than $1 trillion in debt, taxpayers need to know why the government is spending so much of our money overseas.”

Global Affairs Canada is embroiled in controversy after it purchased a $9-million luxury condo for New York Consul General Tom Clark amid a housing and cost-of-living crisis. 

The records obtained by the CTF show Clark’s lavish condo is just the tip of the iceberg, with the department dropping taxpayer cash on other luxury properties around the world.

Global Affairs Canada has spent $38.4 million on official residences since 2014, including New Zealand ($2.4 million), Barbados ($3.8 million) and Trinidad and Tobago ($2.5 million), among others. 

In London, U.K., Global Affairs Canada spent $58 million on 23 properties since 2015, all of which serve as “staff quarters,” according to the records. All told, Global Affairs Canada owns 65 properties in London purchased for $208 million. 

In Kabul, Afghanistan, Global Affairs Canada spent $41 million on three properties in late 2018 and 2019, which have since been abandoned to the Taliban. 

Prior to the first property in Kabul being purchased, the U.S. had already begun negotiations with the Taliban for an end to the Afghanistan War. 

Seven months after Global Affairs Canada purchased the last property in Kabul, the U.S. struck a deal with the Taliban for the withdrawal of American troops from the country.

On Aug. 15, 2021, Canada pulled its presence from Afghanistan.

“We have … been unable to inspect the state of these properties since that date,” Global Affairs Canada told the CTF in a written statement.

In October 2021, the Globe and Mail reported that “Islamist militants now guard the former headquarters of Canada’s diplomatic mission in the Afghan capital.”

“This is a lot of taxpayers’ money to spend on new property in Afghanistan when our ally had already been clear it was preparing to leave,” Terrazzano said. “Canadian taxpayers are out $41 million and the Taliban now has new digs, so is anyone in government going to answer for the decision to purchase these properties?”

In Kyiv, Ukraine, Global Affairs Canada purchased a chancery for $10.2 million in 2017.

In Senegal, a country in West Africa, Global Affairs Canada bought $12.5 million worth of “vacant land” in 2022.

“Global Affairs Canada’s real estate portfolio is bloated and the taxpayer tab is ludicrous,” Terrazzano said. “Someone in government must explain what value taxpayers are supposedly getting for the hundreds of millions of dollars spent on all these lavish properties in far flung countries.

“And if Canadians aren’t getting real value, then it’s time to sell off properties so taxpayers can recoup some of this money.”

A GST holiday sounded like it might be a good thing, but it turned out to be a gimmick to distract us from more serious issues, writes Marco Navarro-Genie. Courtesy Ivanoh Demers/Radio-Canada

One more racket from a government that rules by racket

The Prime Minister’s proposed GST holiday and $250 rebate scheme, initially estimated at $6.2 billion, is yet another calculated ploy to distract Canadians from the ethical failures of his government. Though the rebate portion was abandoned in Parliament, the GST holiday remains a superficial gesture in a government-induced affordability crisis.

This tactic highlights the government’s willingness to appear generous (with our money) while burdening taxpayers with increased debt to mask corruption and maintain power.

At the heart of this deflection lies the Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC) program, dubbed by critics as the “Green Slush Fund.”

The Auditor General recently revealed shocking improprieties within the program. The findings include that the federal ethics office reported at least 90 violations of ethics rules and nearly $400 million handed out to companies linked to SDTC board members. This gross misuse of public funds undermines the program’s goals of fostering green innovation, instead solidifying public skepticism about Ottawa’s ethical compass.

Efforts to hold the government accountable for its mismanagement have faced significant obstruction. Parliament has requested unredacted documents related to the scandal but has been met with resistance from the government. Trudeau’s administration has provided vague justifications for its refusal to comply, citing reasons such as protecting commercial confidentiality and national security.

The Speaker of the House, a Liberal MP, ruled that Parliament has the constitutional right to demand these documents. He ordered the government to release them unredacted. However, weeks have now passed, and the government continues its obstructionist tactics. Parliament has been stalled for weeks, effectively freezing legislative proceedings.

Under parliamentary rules, the House can halt all proceedings until the government complies with the Speaker’s ruling. However, the Speaker lacks direct enforcement power, leaving the opposition parties to hold the line. Last week, the government attempted to submit documents but presented them in a heavily redacted form, further eroding trust.

The standoff highlights the lengths the federal government will go to avoid transparency. By refusing to release the documents, the Liberals undermine Parliament’s authority and delay critical legislative work to protect themselves from scrutiny.

The two-month GST holiday passed with NDP support, removes the GST/HST from:

Marco Navarro-Genie is VP Policy and Research at the Frontier Centre for Public Policy. He is co-author, with Barry Cooper, of COVID-19: The Politics of a Pandemic Moral Panic (2020).