Senior public servants meet to discuss Canadian consul general's 'opulent' NYC condo

The Canadian government is under pressure for buying a $9 million apartment for its consulate in New York. This decision has been investigated in a committee in the House of Commons. Michael Barnett, a conservative representative, called this purchase "excessive" and "luxurious" and questioned why the procurement minister was not informed about this purchase.

Canada's top appraiser, Emily Bouchard, said she was the highest official in the procurement department to approve the purchase, but her role was to appraise a specific property. The government is selling its former residence in Manhattan for $13 million. According to Global Affairs, it will actually save money for the government. Other officials who spoke at the meeting included two members of the real estate services team at the Ministry of Procurement, who often referred questions to Global Affairs. Global Affairs was not present at Tuesday's meeting. The second meeting of the committee is scheduled for Wednesday.

Samantha Tattersall, a senior Treasury official, said her department did not need to review the purchase because it was less than $10 million. However, he said Treasury Board policies will determine how global affairs decisions are made. "The committee wants to hear from global affairs whether they have done a full life-cycle cost analysis of the various options," he said. Have they looked at maintaining (the old residence) and doing upgrades, have they looked at the full cost of buying something new, either by buying or renting, and what's the result of that analysis?"

Officials said the $10 million transaction limit was raised from $4 million after reviewing the average purchase price of a foreign residence in 2022. According to documents presented to the committee last week, Canada is likely to actually sell his old Manhattan residence. This Park Avenue apartment is listed for sale at $13 million. Global Affairs Canada previously said the unit was purchased in 1961 and last renovated in 1982 and is in need of significant renovations.

The building did not comply with accessibility regulations, there was no separation between family and work spaces, and the co-op board had imposed restrictions on the events that could be held on site.

Concerns about the Park Avenue Apartments were first raised in 2014. Seven years later, Global Affairs approved a $1.8 million renovation, but the project was delayed by the Covid-19 pandemic.

More problems were discovered recently, and documents presented to the committee show that the cost of the renovation project has increased to $2.6 million and is not expected to fix some of the apartment's underlying problems.

The government partnered with a local broker to buy and saw 21 residences ranging in price from $8 million to $21 million.

This apartment was bought in Steinway Tower, a few steps from Central Park in an area called Billionaire Row.

The official residence will be used by former journalist Tom Clarke, who will be appointed Consul General in February 2023.

Global Affairs said the new accommodation will save Canadian taxpayers millions of dollars and reduce maintenance costs and property taxes.

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