OTTAWA – Renovating the current residence of Canada’s consul general in New York would have cost $2.6 million and left “fundamental issues,” so the government bought a new $8.8-million condo on “Billionaire’s Row” instead, according to Global Affairs Canada.
New documents filed by GAC to the Commons Government Operations Committee (OGGO) reveal that the department considered 21 luxury properties — including a 47th floor penthouse listed at over $21 million — before settling on the condo it purchased for just under $9 million in Steinway Tower. In late July, MPs from all parties on the committee voted to summon top government officials and Canada’s consul general in New York, retired journalist Tom Clark, to explain GAC’s decision to buy the luxury condo on Manhattan’s “Billionaire’s Row.” The price tag of the new residence has been criticized by opposition parties, with Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre even promising to “fire” Clark if elected prime minister.
In a letter to committee members, GAC associate deputy minister Sandra McCardell said concerns about the condition of the current consul general’s residence — located at 550 Park Ave. in Manhattan — were first raised in 2014. The letter does not detail the concerns but notes that it took seven years for the department to finally approve a $1.
8-million renovation project in May 2021, which was then delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Two years later, the department said the costs of the renovations had ballooned to $2.6 million and would not resolve new “fundamental issues” that had cropped up.
Those included “accessibility problems, lack of proper division of family and representational spaces, and restrictions on events imposed by the cooperative board,” McCardell wrote. “The Consulate General in New York is one of Canada’s most important missions and the Official Residence is home to one of Canada’s most senior Diplomats,” McCardell noted. “The Head of Mission Residence supports diplomacy and trade, hosting over 50 official functions in the past two years, including business events, roundtable discussions, seminars, and briefings.
” That’s why the department decided it would purchase a new official residence for the consul general, the documents show. Officials visited 21 properties with listing prices between $8 million and $21 million before settling on the unit in Steinway Tower, a building known as the world’s thinnest skyscraper. The property is 3,596 square feet with three bedrooms (each with an ensuite bathroom) and a studio, a foyer, a gallery hall, a formal dining room, living room, 10-foot ceilings, granite counters, a “marble clad primary bath” and “macauba stone entrance floors.
” An appraisal report by National Valuation Consultants provided by GAC to the committee assessed the value of the property at US$6.65 million. The government ultimately paid US$6.
5 million. “The location at 111 West 57th Street was determined to be the most optimal and best value, as it was one of the lowest per square foot, would cut monthly costs nearly in half and represented a $7.4M saving for Canadian taxpayers compared to the previous location,” McCardell wrote to the committee.
The letter does not detail the $7.4 million saving for taxpayers. In previous statements, GAC said the purchase presented an “opportunity” for taxpayers to save $2 million when accounting for the sale of the old residence.
McCardell wrote that the sale of the former residence at 550 Park Ave. would ultimately “save money for Canadian taxpayers” because it is appraised at a “much higher value” than the purchase price of the new condo. The federal government has owned the current residence since 1961 and last refurbished it in 1982.
During an OGGO meeting in July, Conservative MP Kelly Block told the committee the expense was “extremely disturbing, but perhaps not surprising.” “We have seen the complete lack of spending controls on major procurement,” she said. Bloc Québécois MP Julie Vignola said that $9 million is equivalent to the lifetime earnings of nine average taxpayers.
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