Global Affairs Canada spent $59,000 to decorate a consulate in Milan, according to government records reviewed by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.

“If you asked the average Canadian if their hard-earned cash should go to pink cowboy boots and a mitten on a stick in Milan or stay in their own pockets so they can buy boots and mitts for their kids, the answer is pretty obvious,” said Franco Terrazzano, CTF Federal Director. “The government is spending more money snapping photos in Milan than most people spend for their wedding photos.

“This type of spending is infuriating because taxpayers work hard for the money they earn.”

Global Affairs spent $33,680 on seven pieces of “artwork” for its Milan consulate since its re-opening in 2023, according to records released in response to an order paper question asked by member of Parliament Vincent Ho. While the government didn’t disclose how much each artwork cost, on average, it spent $4,800 per piece.

One of the artworks, called Erased, is a pair of “upcycled” pink cowboy boots sourced from a thrift store in New York City. The artist added some beads, “floral work” and “wire trail duster fringe” to the boots and said the artwork is meant to symbolize his “personal relationship to queer history.”

Three pieces of art are textiles made by an Indigenous artist, mainly made from rabbit fur, beads and sherpa. One of them, Blueberry Patch, is a mitten on a pole. Two pieces of art are Indigenous art sculptures. The other piece of art is described as a “photograph.”

Global Affairs spent another $21,737 on “framing and mounts” for the artwork, including a “single pole to support” the mitten, and $3,617 on shipping and installation.

For comparison, a pair of kids’ winter boots cost about $50. The amount of money the government spent on each artwork, such as the pink cowboy boots, could have been used to purchase winter boots for nearly 100 children.

Likewise, a pair of faux rabbit fur mittens costs about $9. Instead of spending money to put a mitten on a pole in the Milan consulate, that money could have paid for about 530 pairs of mitts.

Global Affairs also spent $322,500 to furnish the consulate. It spent $261,500 on “furniture, carpet and signage,” plus $20,000 on shipping and $41,000 on installation.

The department also spent $6,400 on an in-house photographer.

Global Affairs retrofitted the Canadian consulate in Milan as part of “Canada’s efforts to combat climate change,” according to access-to-information records obtained by Blacklock’s Reporter.

The retrofit is part of an $18.6 million project, according to the records Blacklock’s Reporter first reported on. So far, operational and construction costs are $5,461,477.

The Harper government closed the consulate in 2007 to cut costs and contracted a lawyer to handle emergency consular matters. That solution was apparently effective until more than a decade later, when, in 2020, the Trudeau government decided to re-open the consulate.

Canada already has an embassy in Rome, Italy.

“Why is the government even spending this much money re-opening a consulate in Milan when we already pay for an embassy in Rome?” Terrazzano said. “Someone in government must explain what value taxpayers are supposedly getting for the millions of dollars Global Affairs spends on lavish properties around the world.”

Global Affairs has spent at least $186 million on foreign real estate holdings in the last 12 years. The department has more than 400 properties in more than 70 countries, according to access-to-information records obtained by the CTF.

It spent $38.4 million on official residences in other countries since 2014, including New Zealand ($2.4 million), Barbados ($3.8 million) and Trinidad and Tobago ($2.5 million).

Global Affairs spent $12.5 million on vacant land in Senegal, $10.2 million on a chancery in Ukraine and $9 million on a luxury condo for New York Consul General Tom Clark.

Global Affairs spent $58 million on 23 properties in London, U.K., since 2015, all of which serve as “staff quarters,” according to the records. All told, Global Affairs Canada owns 65 properties in London purchased for $208 million.