Tom Clark brushes off claims he lied to committee about purchase of $9M luxury NY condo

New York Consul General Tom Clark has dismissed claims he pushed the federal government to buy a new $9 million apartment for him in the city, and insists any criticisms he made of the old official residence in New York were comments made in passing to a colleague.

"While hosting events at the official residence to advance Canada's interests, I observed that the property could not appropriately accommodate guests with mobility issues and posed challenges between the family and representational space," Clark told a parliamentary committee Thursday.

"Any mention from the mission referencing my views on the state of the official residence were the result of an indirect third-hand report of a remark made to a colleague."

Since the purchase of the new $9 million luxury apartment became public in July, the acquisition has been criticized by opposition MPs as overly lavish in light of the cost of living challenges facing Canadians.

MPs have been probing the purchase at committee for months. They've spoken to real estate experts, Global Affairs Canada (GAC) staff, Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly and Clark, who has now appeared before the committee twice.

In September, Clark told the committee that he "had no role whatsoever in either deciding to sell the former residence or buying the new one," and insisted the process "was completely undertaken by the property bureau in Ottawa."

At that meeting, Conservative MP Larry Brock confronted Clark with an internal email between Global Affairs Canada (GAC) officials dated June 17 providing an update on the property purchase.

In that email, an official said both Clark and the consulate staff in New York had been "instrumental throughout this process" and that Clark himself had provided "the greenlight for the selection of the new residence."

Clark told the committee in September the email was wrong and has since been corrected. "That was a person who was not involved in the process of this," he said.

Earlier this month, the news outlet Politico obtained a GAC document from May 2023 that said shortly after Clark took up the new role in February of that year, he raised concerns about the official residence. 

"The current [consul general of New York] expressed concerns regarding the completion of the … kitchen and refurbishment project and indicated that the unit was not suitable to be the [the consul's] accommodations," said the document, which has been seen by CBC News.

The document also says the current consul indicated that the old residence did not "have an ideal floor plan" for "representational activities."

After seeing that document, MPs on the committee voted to have Clark return via videoconference to explain his earlier comments.

On Thursday, Clark said any criticism he made of the official residence was made only in passing and he "did not provide input to the headquarters-led, multi-year-process, to address the deficiencies of the official residence."

Clark also told MPs that he was "unaware that any mention of my observations had been included as part of the mission's input to the property team" that was contained in the document obtained by Politico.

Clark insisted again Thursday that he "did not seek nor have the opportunity to exert influence or direct the department's ongoing consideration of the residence, nor did I exert any influence or direction on the purchase of the new residence."

Since the purchase of the apartment became public, Conservative MPs have suggested that the Liberal government bought it to provide a perk to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's "media buddy," Clark.

Conservative MP Kelly Block told Clark she did not believe his testimony in September or Thursday and asked him to resign his post. "You have obviously and shamelessly lied to this committee on multiple occasions," she said.

Clark, who agreed to testify under oath Thursday, insisted everything he has told the committee is "the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth."

In the past few months, multiple officials from GAC have denied the claim that Clark demanded the new residence or that Trudeau bought it to make him happy. They have said that, as early as 2014, officials had come to the conclusion that the apartment at 550 Park Avenue was no longer fit for purpose.

Officials said the property, which was purchased in 1961, had not been updated since 1982 and did not meet modern accessibility standards, and much of its infrastructure was nearing the end of its lifespan.

The 550 Park Avenue residence is also a co-operative building and members of the board wanted to restrict the use of the apartment for diplomatic functions, officials said.

GAC officials said they looked at three possible solutions to the problem: renovating the current residence at a cost of $2.6 million, leasing a suitable unit, or purchasing a new apartment.

After viewing 21 properties in Manhattan, officials from the property division of GAC told the committee they chose a new apartment, on the 11th floor of 111 West 57th Street.

GAC officials said the new apartment will cost less annually to operate than the 550 Park Avenue residence and will end up saving taxpayers $7.4 million over the life of the property.