Canada's envoy to NYC called to testify about $9M condo purchase on 'Billionaires' Row'

Tom Clark, Canada's consular general to New York, attends a conference In Philadelphia on May 21, 2024. (Sean Kilpatrick / The Canadian Press)

Canada’s Consul General in New York City will have to explain the government's decision to buy a $9-million condo in Manhattan's famous "Billionaires’ Row," to a parliamentary committee.

Tom Clark, the deputy minister of foreign affairs, as well as other departmental officials, have been summoned to the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates to justify the government’s purchase of new unit just south of Central Park. Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly will also be called if the committee deems it necessary.

In tabling the motion to call Clark and other government officials, Conservative MP Kelly Block called the purchase of the condo “disturbing but not surprising,” later adding, “We have seen the complete lack of spending controls on major procurements” with the Liberal government.

Last week, Global Affairs Canada (GAC) confirmed the department had purchased a unit in the Steinway, Tower located at 111 West 57th St. The condo will be used for “networking receptions, official briefings, and hospitality events such as discussions with business and political leaders,” wrote GAC spokesperson Jean-Pierre Godbout in an email.

“We agree that $9 million for a New York condo for the Consul General needs to be examined,” said Bloc Quebecois MP Julie Vignola, supporting Block’s motion.

“Nine million dollars is nine lifetimes of work for the average person,” Vignola told the committee.

The committee is also asking that the government provide a third-party assessment of the Manhattan property, if available. The motion also stipulates the department must provide a list of “all properties, including addresses and listing prices, that have been viewed or considered for purchase for the Consulate General's official residence in New York.”

The statement from GAC pointed out the current residence for the consul general — located at 550 Park Ave. in Manhattan’s Upper East Side neighbourhood — was last renovated in 1982 and does not meet new building codes nor standards of the department.

Citing significant investments needed to modernize the property, the department “recommended a relocation to a new, smaller, more suitable, and more economical apartment,” Godbout told CTV News.

Godbout said the move could save Canadian taxpayers more than $2 million and reduce ongoing maintenance and property taxes.

According to a listing on the real estate website StreetEasy, the new unit is a 3,600-square foot residence boasting three bedrooms, four bathrooms and “stunning powder room is finished in jewel onyx.”

Despite the criticism and expense of having a Manhattan residence, former diplomat and current Senator Peter Boehm said it’s an important place for Canada to promote its culture and trade.

“If you want to play in the big leagues, you have to pay to some degree," Boehm told CTV News in an interview.

Boehm admits the numbers may seem high, but adds that he has seen a number of other countries’ missions in his travels and he believes Canada’s is on par.

“Canadian heads of mission, so ambassadors or consuls general, are housed very well and generally in the middle of the pack. So, not so lavish and also not so shabby, but pretty much where we are as a country,” said Boehm.

More than a decade ago, the department of Foreign Affairs under Stephen Harper’s Conservative Party started a program to sell off a number of properties and downsize others. Macdonald House at One Grosvenor Square in London, the then-residence of Canada’s high commissioner in the U.K., was sold for $530 million to a developer from India.

Proceeds from the sale of the posh and historic mansion went to help offset renovations of the high commission’s current location, Canada House, which is located at Trafalgar Square. Then-High Commissioner Gordon Campbell estimated that once the upgrades were completed, between $150 million and $200 million that could flow back to the central treasury.