Government Operations Committee on Sept. 12th, 2024

[Thomas Clark]

Nothing whatsoever.

[Majid Jowhari, Liberal, Richmond Hill, ON]

Thank you.

Did you at any time talk to anyone regarding a desire for relocation?

[Thomas Clark]

Never.

[Majid Jowhari, Liberal, Richmond Hill, ON]

Did anyone talk to you about the need for the move, at any point or any level?

[Thomas Clark]

I was aware, as the head of mission, that there were discussions going on with the property division. I was not part of those discussions. I did not involve myself in them in any sort of way.

[Majid Jowhari, Liberal, Richmond Hill, ON]

Thank you.

You mentioned the head of the mission, so let's talk about the mission. Let's talk about the great work that the mission is doing and the one that you're leading. You talked about how the diplomatic post in New York is responsible for five states. You mentioned that it is responsible for six trillion dollars' worth of opportunity. You talked about the $200 billion in current trade that's happening.

Just for Canadians, Canada's GDP is usually around $2.1 trillion to $2.2 trillion, so the mission is actually responsible for trade in the order of three orders of magnitude. Do you want to make any comment on the size of the opportunity that exists for Canada?

[Thomas Clark]

Yes, and I want to make it very clear that any success that we have had in terms of trade with our region and with Canada is not because of me solely. I am merely part of a team down here that has done remarkable work. Let me give you a few examples because I think this was asked for in a previous question.

Since April 2022—which are the last numbers that we have until now—we have made 65 foreign direct-investment referrals to communities in Canada, including 161 economic outcomes for Canada, 35 new partnerships and much investor business in Canada. We have also facilitated investments, including, as I said last week, the visit of Governor Murphy from New Jersey. These are very positive results that are being made by the mission and the people here at the mission.

[Majid Jowhari, Liberal, Richmond Hill, ON]

That's great. Thank you.

You also talked about some of the border provinces that really heavily rely on you and the mission to be able to facilitate a lot of conversations with their counterparts in the United States. Can you shed some light on that one for us, please?

[Thomas Clark]

Thank you.

We regularly host ministers from the Ontario government and from the Quebec government. As you say, these are border provinces to my territory, but we've also had visits from the Premier of Prince Edward Island. It really is key for Canada that the supply chain in particular on some critical matters—whether it be critical minerals or energy in particular, which is a big issue here—directly affects the trade between Canada and the United States, but more particularly the trade among those two provinces and the five states that I represent here.

We do outreach into Canada, but more importantly, we encourage people—we encourage all politicians, in fact—to come down to New York to tell our story, to help us tell the story.

[Majid Jowhari, Liberal, Richmond Hill, ON]

Thank you.

It's interesting that you talk about how you encourage all the politicians from all parties to come to Canada. I was looking at the document that was provided by Global Affairs Canada, and I want to thank you for all of this information. There were quite a few names, politicians from all colours, including the former Conservative leader of the official opposition, Mr. Erin O'Toole; Manitoba's former Conservative minister of finance; and the Conservative Premier of P.E.I.

Can you talk about the portfolio of these politicians across the spectrum, for the individuals across the spectrum? What is their focus area when they come to New York and who do they meet with? What kind of facilitation do you do?

I only have 45 seconds, so I yield the floor to you for the rest of the time.

[Thomas Clark]

I'll be very brief.

When they come down, they are meeting with investors on Wall Street, and we have very good connections there. We put provinces and investors together along with their own teams who have the understanding of the economic opportunities in New York for provinces.

In the case of Mr. O'Toole, I just decided that this is somebody who probably has some wisdom to impart, so I invited him over for a meal at the residence because I thought that was the right thing to do.

At this point, Mr. Chair, I am probably out of time.

[Majid Jowhari, Liberal, Richmond Hill, ON]

With five seconds left, I yield the rest to the chair.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Kelly McCauley]

Thanks.

Mrs. Vignola, you are up next. You have six minutes and two extra seconds from Mr. Jowhari.

Go ahead, please.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Clark, for being here today.

I'm not sure I understood your answer to one of the questions you were asked.

When were you first informed that Global Affairs Canada was looking for a new official residence?

[Thomas Clark]

I will try to answer questions in French, but I might have to switch to English.

My first visit to the residence was on April 26, but April 12 was the first time I heard that there was interest in the property.

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

All in all, it was quite soon after you took office, on the day before the Prime Minister arrived.

I've seen some things, but I needed information about your—

[Thomas Clark]

If I may, I would like to make a small clarification, madam. That was in April 2024, not April 2023.

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

Okay, thank you for that clarification.

I knew nothing about your career, so I had to do my homework. I can't know everything about 39 million people. I found some very glowing comments about you. According to other comments, you are a “Laurentian elite liberal media personality”. To be honest, I have no idea what that means. I understand that you are a media personality but are you liberal? Are you part of the Laurentian elite? More to the point, what is the Laurentian elite?

What led you to become a consul? Was it your professional background, liberal ideology or the Laurentian elite?

[Thomas Clark]

Thank you for your question.

Over the 45 years I worked as a journalist, I was neutral. In other words, I showed no partisanship toward the Liberals, Conservatives, NDP or Bloc. I've never lived in the Laurentians, and I am not part of the elite.

The only slightly political thing I did over all those years was serve as a moderator during a Conservative Party of Canada conference while they were electing their leader. I did that twice. I provided a service, but that does not mean that I'm a Conservative. Even now, I'm not a Liberal, Conservative, NDPer or anything else.

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

Thank you for that clarification.

You say that you served as a moderator twice. What led you to do that?

[Thomas Clark]

The Conservative Party asked me to.

I was asked by the Conservative Party twice to moderate leadership debates. I charged nothing for this. This was not a paid gig. I felt that it was a service and an engagement in democracy, and I felt that, from time to time, journalists who have the ability to do this sort of thing should be doing it to increase it. It is not an endorsement for any party or any candidate. It is simply a way of participating in the democratic process. I thought it was the right thing to do, and I did it twice, never for any party other than the Conservatives.

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

Thank you very much.

On August 21, 2024, an official from Global Affairs Canada told the committee that the Minister of Foreign Affairs was not involved in the purchase of the new official residence. She added that the minister's chief of staff was informed of the purchase in June 2024, before the closing date.

Why did your team inform the chief of staff to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the proposed purchase of the new residence? Is that standard practice?

[Thomas Clark]

I have no idea. As I said at the beginning of the meeting, I was not part of the process.

I was not involved in the process. I did not know when the minister was informed or not informed. That was never in my line of sight—ever.

[The Chair, Conservative, Kelly McCauley]

Thank you very much.

We'll now go to beautiful British Columbia.

Mr. Bachrach, go ahead, please, sir.

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

Actually, I'm in beautiful Montreal this morning. I wish I were back home in British Columbia, but I'm on the road. I'll be seeing everyone in Ottawa starting Monday.

Mr. Clark, thanks for joining our committee. I appreciate your remarks so far. I also appreciate your recognizing the importance of this conversation, given that we're in a housing crisis and given that, for a lot of Canadians, $9 million for a condo in New York seems like a lot of money.

People may not be familiar with the role of your office and its importance to our trade relations with the United States. My colleagues have asked important questions about the timing of things. I think we're getting a little bit of a better sense of how this decision was made. I'm wondering if you can talk about the longer-term investment in Canada's diplomatic corps and how that has changed over time.

I understand that you're relatively new to this role, but you obviously talk to other people in the diplomatic corps. You probably have a sense of where we stand at this current moment when it comes to investing. I don't think anyone would deny that, in order to be effective in these roles, the government has to invest in them. We've seen different decisions made by different governments over time.

Where do we stand now, and where have we been in the past?