Government Operations Committee on Aug. 21st, 2024

[Mark Allen]

Absolutely.

Our trade commissioner service, which is based in our overseas platform, including in New York, is directly responsible for opening doors on behalf of Canadian exporters and providing critical market intelligence to help them really seal deals in economies all around the world, including in New York. I also mentioned the investment attraction kind of—

[The Chair, Conservative, Kelly McCauley]

I apologize, Mr. Allen, but you were not left much time to answer. You're more than welcome to perhaps finish it in writing to the committee. I think it would be appreciated.

Mrs. Vignola, please go ahead.

[Julie Vignola, Bloc, Beauport—Limoilou, QC]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

Mr. Cousineau, we usually receive written statements from witnesses, but I haven't seen yours this morning. Maybe my iPhone wasn't working properly. Anything's possible.

Could you please send a written copy of the speech you gave earlier?

[Stéphane Cousineau]

Mr. Chair, I believe my remarks have been sent to the committee. You should get them shortly.

[Julie Vignola, Bloc, Beauport—Limoilou, QC]

Thank you very much. That's very good news.

[The Chair, Conservative, Kelly McCauley]

We received them at the very last minute.

[Julie Vignola, Bloc, Beauport—Limoilou, QC]

Okay, thank you very much.

Mr. Genuis talked about co‑ownership rules. Is Canada part of the committee that makes decisions on rules within the Steinway Tower?

[Stéphane Cousineau]

Mr. Chair, Canada is indeed represented on this committee, because we have a presence in this building.

[Julie Vignola, Bloc, Beauport—Limoilou, QC]

Okay.

That's it for now. Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Kelly McCauley]

Thank you, Mrs. Vignola.

Mr. Bachrach, go ahead, please.

[Taylor Bachrach, NDP, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I'll pick up where I left off in the last round with the question around risk associated with the future value of the property and whether Global Affairs took note of some of the challenges the developers had selling units in the associated building that the annex is attached to and just what their evaluation was of risk associated with future valuation of the property.

[Stéphane Cousineau]

Thank you very much for the question.

As mentioned in the beginning, we got a professional appraisal on this from PSPC, which was part of the process. Also we leveraged the private sector real estate agent who had actually been helping us to identify what the market was all about and the current state of that market based on which the price was established.

We believe that with these two elements we have mitigated the risk as we move forward.

Thank you.

[Taylor Bachrach, NDP, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

Okay. Was the risk assessed as being low in terms of future value of the property? I understand that information is in the very lengthy appraisal the committee has been provided, but in brief does Global Affairs feel, from an investment perspective, that this is a solid investment that's going to appreciate over time or are there risks that Canadians should be concerned about?

[Stéphane Cousineau]

Mr. Chair, thank you very much for the question. Given the value for money we're looking for, it's a really important one, and I'll turn to Mr. Dubeau to respond to it.

[Robin Dubeau]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

One of the risks always associated is with the financials; for example, if one of the variables we have identified in the business process in the development of the business case does not materialize the way we anticipated it would. Our cost estimators are really prudent in not assuming that the market appreciation would be too high on that unit.

However, the fact is there are two things. We know that on the old properties we're selling, the market has given us a significant return on investment over the years—about 10% or more. We anticipate that in the long run, the Manhattan market will give us a good investment moving forward, and that's supported by our real estate broker's opinion.

[The Chair, Conservative, Kelly McCauley]

Thanks very much, Mr. Bachrach.

We'll finish up with Mr. Brock and then Mr. Kusmierczyk.

[Larry Brock, Conservative, Brantford—Brant, ON]

Thank you.

I have a number of odds-and-ends questions, some loose ends based on what we've discussed over the last almost three hours.

I want to clarify that very early on in the first hour, my colleague Mr. Barrett asked for details and the tabling of any and all correspondence in relation to the sale and the acquisition of both condos. I appreciate that you said a number of times that Mr. Clark did not influence the decision to sell and the decision to purchase, but we still want any and all correspondence between Tom Clark and Global Affairs in relation to both properties. Will you table that, sir?

[Stéphane Cousineau]

Mr. Chair, as I mentioned, I will be pleased to look into it and see what's available, and then get back to this table.

[Larry Brock, Conservative, Brantford—Brant, ON]

Okay.

The 57th Street property was on the market for 235 days. That's just shy of eight months. It sold for $6.63 million U.S.

Did you pay the full listing price, or did you negotiate the price down to $6.63 million U.S.?

[Stéphane Cousineau]

Mr. Chair, we're always looking for value for money. Once again, I will turn to Robin to talk about the process of the negotiations on this one, which were done, as I mentioned, with the real property—

[Larry Brock, Conservative, Brantford—Brant, ON]

I just want the the question answered. I don't need an explanation.

Did you pay the full listing price, or did you negotiate?

[Robin Dubeau]

There were negotiations that took place, and we paid less than the listed price.

[Larry Brock, Conservative, Brantford—Brant, ON]

How much less?

[Robin Dubeau]

I think it's in the document that was shared with you. It's $6.5 million U.S.

[Larry Brock, Conservative, Brantford—Brant, ON]

Right, but how much is it from the listing price to the selling price? What was the difference?