A House of Commons committee will investigate the Liberal government’s recent purchase of a $9 million Manhattan apartment for the New York consul general.
The Government Operations and Budget Committee unanimously agreed Wednesday to hold several meetings next month to study the purchase.
The Committee directed the Department of Foreign Affairs of Canada (GAC) to provide a list of properties (including addresses and prices) that have been viewed or considered for purchase as a consular residence in New York.
It has also called several witnesses, including New York Consul General Tom Clark, the Deputy Secretary of State for International Affairs, representatives from the Procurement Department and the Treasury Board, and a panel of New York City real estate agents.
The committee also said it would call Foreign Minister Melanie Joly to testify if necessary.
Conservative MPs Michael Barrett and Larry Bullock have called on a parliamentary committee to get more information about why the Canadian government bought a $9 million Manhattan mansion, which Liberal MP Ron MacKinnon said was a “liquidable” asset.
Conservative ethics spokesman Michael Barrett said Wednesday that the apartment purchase was an inappropriate expense given that many Canadians are struggling with rising rents and other housing affordability issues.
He said Clark, a former Global News journalist and presenter, would be living in an apartment in the city’s “Billionaire’s Row” and that people had a right to know “all the information about this $9 million cost that is being footed by taxpayers”.
Selling your old unit can save you money: GAC
GAC said it made the purchase last month because its previous New York City home, purchased in 1961, was not in compliance and did not meet the agency’s standards.
The department said a construction project in the old units would entail “high renovation costs” so it decided to relocate them to “newer, smaller, more suitable and more economical apartments” instead.
GAC said it could actually save Canadian taxpayers about $2 million by selling its existing apartments on Manhattan’s glitzy Park Avenue and relocating to new apartments further west in Midtown.
“This will also reduce ongoing maintenance costs and property taxes, support future program needs and satisfy representation requirements,” the ministry said in a statement to CBC News.
