Wining, dining in U.S. on rise under Liberals
Spending has doubled since Harper’s tenure
As worries about the Trump administration loom over the Canada-United States relationship, the Trudeau government is spending more than double what the Harper government was on wining and dining south of the border.
An analysis of information obtained with access-to-information requests, supplemented with data provided by Global Affairs Canada officials, shows the Liberal government has substantially shifted its diplomatic focus to the U.S. It also shows an increase in spending at Canadian missions to such multilateral institutions as the United Nations.
Across all of Canada’s outposts to the U.S., spending has doubled to more than $1 million per year.
Under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, diplomats at the Canadian embassy in Washington, D.C., are spending twice as much on hospitality with the tab rising to $274,000 per year, up from $135,000. At the consulate general in New York, it’s almost three times as much, increasing to $170,000 from about $67,000. And at the Los Angeles mission, four times as much money is going toward hospitality than did during the previous government, rising to about $99,000 annually, up from approximately $28,000.
Most hospitality costs at missions abroad come from food and drink: taking officials out for lunches, stocking up on coffee, buying Canadian wine in bulk, paying for dinners when ministers come to town. Embassies and consulates also host Canada Day parties and other receptions. In the U.S., strategy sessions on new “Buy America” policies, cyber-security and regional trade have populated the agenda.
The spending comparisons are based on the final two financial years under former Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper, from April 2013 to March 2015, versus the first two years of Trudeau’s government, from November 2015 to October 2017. The twoyear hospitality total across all Canadian missions was just over $10.1 million under Harper and went up about 12 per cent to almost $11.4 million under Trudeau.
The shift in focus to the U.S. is not the only trend this analysis reveals. The Trudeau government is spending 15 per cent more on shmoozing at multilateral institutions — a reflection perhaps of the Liberals’ warmer stance toward such international bodies as the United Nations. Spending at the UN General Assembly in New York is up 50 per cent.
There have also been changes based on how the trade winds have blown. While the Harper government spent significantly more in Seoul, South Korea, as Canada negotiated a bilateral trade deal with that country signed in March 2014, the Trudeau government has spent more at the European Union outpost in Brussels, where it finalized the Canada-EU trade deal toward the end of 2016. As Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations were resurrected last year, more was being spent in Japan, the 11-country deal’s prize market.
Still, even though the North American Free Trade Agreement is being renegotiated — a significant source of angst in the Canada-U.S. relationship — there has been no major change in Canada’s hospitality spending in Mexico. Officials did host a “NAFTA renegotiation” breakfast at the Mexico City Hilton last June, just two months before the first negotiating round began, costing about $1,600.
Trudeau’s government has focused on increasing trade with giants India and China. This shows itself in hospitality budgets for India — about 17 per cent bigger now overall, having grown to an average of $126,000 per year, up from $108,000. Spending in Beijing and at three consulates in mainland China has gone down slightly, however, dropping to $166,000 annually from around $173,000 — still enough to stock up on a significant amount of ice wine and maple syrup, the records show.
Under the Liberals, diplomats have spent a little less in London, Paris and Berlin, but twice as much in Tel Aviv. In Kabul, Afghanistan, hospitality costs have gone down by half.
In L.A., Canada hosted a Grammy Awards party in 2016 and another for the Emmys in 2017, costing at least $13,000 and $8,600 respectively, according to documents. Catering for a Rufus Wainwright concert cost a little over $9,000. A diplomat bought some cookies at Whole Foods for $31.
In Washington, D.C., so many events are held — on everything from a “truth and reconciliation” event to one honouring “international women judges” — and so much wine is purchased that staff held a wine tasting last year “for future events at the embassy” to figure out what to buy.
European stereotypes seem to prevail. In London, there was a reception for a rugby team and spending related to royal events, such as a couple of hundred bucks for someone to rent formal dress for “the Queen’s garden party.” In Paris, there was a $4,000 champagne purchase.
There was an Oscar Peterson tribute reception in Japan last year. There was also $2,000 worth of maple syrup at a Tokyo Canada Day reception.
Meanwhile, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, diplomats made a more modest choice to add pizzazz to a La Francophonie event: $38.77 worth of St-Hubert barbecue sauce.