Purchase of a 9 million condo in New York | Canadian Consul General Called to Testify

(Ottawa) Conservative MPs want Canada’s consul general in New York to testify again before a House of Commons committee about the purchase of a new official residence in Manhattan.

Members of the Standing Committee on Government Operations are reviewing the purchase and want Tom Clark to answer more questions after new information emerged Tuesday about his involvement in the government’s purchase of the $9 million condo near Central Park.

Mr. Clark previously told the committee that he played no role in the purchase of the condo or the sale of the previous residence.

But a report from PoliticoTuesday, said the consul had raised concerns about the renovations of the former residence and its adequacy.

Politico cited documents obtained through Freedom of Information, which were then shared with other media outlets by the Conservative Party.

A May 2023 report from Global Affairs Canada indicates that Mr. Clark informed government officials that the residence needed to be replaced.

“The current [consul général à New York, chef de mission] expressed concerns regarding the completion of the kitchen and renovation project and indicated that the unit was not suitable for housing the [consul général] “, we can read in the report.

“It does not have an ideal plan for representation activities [du consul général à New York]. »

A final decision on whether Mr Clark will have to answer further questions has not been made, however, as the committee adjourned before the motion was put to a vote. The next committee meeting will take place next week.

Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly testified at Tuesday’s meeting, and she faced questions about Mr. Clark’s involvement in the purchase.

“It was not a political decision, because it was an operational decision,” said Mr.^me Joly at committee during a tense exchange with Conservative MP Michael Barrett.

« [Le comité] has had many people, including officials, come to you and tell you this. So these are the facts. »

M^me Joly later told the committee that she only learned of the decision to purchase a new residence through the media, even though her chief of staff had been informed several weeks earlier.

“The ministry informed my chief of staff once the decision was made. Because, of course, it was not a political decision,” argued M^me Joly.

Shortly before M^me With all due apologies, Conservative MP Stephanie Kusie introduced the motion to call Mr. Clark back for two more hours to answer further questions.

Bloc MP Julie Vignola instead proposed having him testify for just one hour, indicating that she would support the motion with this change.

“An hour is more than enough time to find out if he lied to us,” said M.^me Vignola to his colleagues.

NDP MP Taylor Bachrach also said he would support the motion, given the contrast between the new report and Mr. Clark’s testimony about talking to anyone about wanting to move in. in a new residence.

“What really irritates me is that the consul general was very clear in response to repeated questions to the committee,” Mr. Bachrach said.

“Mr. Clark said, ‘Never.’ The answer is simple: “Never”. We can’t be more categorical than that. »

The Liberal government argued that purchasing the new residence would save Canadian taxpayers millions of dollars and reduce maintenance costs and property taxes, while supporting the future needs of the consul general’s program.

The former official residence is up for sale for 13 million, but it has not yet been sold.

In his remarks on Tuesday, Mr.^me Joly told the committee that other like-minded countries paid more than Canada for their residences in Manhattan, including 11 million for the United Kingdom and 19 million for France in 2015.

M^me Joly said that of the countries that have residences in New York, only those of Afghanistan and Bangladesh were not located in Manhattan.