It's Climate Change I tell'ya!! IT'S CLIMATE CHANGE!!

[spaminator]

$18M spent to turn Milan consulate into climate change showcase
Global Affairs Canada spent $37,295 spent on art displays for consulate, which re-opened in 2023

Author of the articleostmedia News
Published Feb 23, 2026 • Last updated 18 hours ago • 2 minute read

HCP_stockworker_003.JPG
Lester B. Pearson building on Sussex Drive in Ottawa, headquarters of Global Affairs Canada on Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026. Photo by HYUNGCHEOL PARK /Postmedia
Efforts by Global Affairs Canada to convert an Italian consular office into a showcase for Canada’s commitment to climate change cost taxpayers over $18 million.


According to documents made public this week via a report published Monday by Blacklock’s Reporter, the government made the decision in 2020 to reopen Canada’s previously-closed consulate in Milan, Italy — spending $18,619,067 to retrofit the office into a “showpiece” of energy efficiency.


“This commitment to environmental sustainability is emblematic of Canada’s efforts to combat climate change and its role as a world leader in the development of clean technologies,” Blacklock’s reported the Canadian Embassy saying at the time.

Milan consulate largely deals with trade
A May 25, 2022 backgrounder said the new Milan mission would largely be dedicated to furthering trade programs, with four of the five full-time consular staff at the site dedicated to that end.


“In Feb. 2020, the Minister of Foreign Affairs approved the initiative to reinstate a chancery in Milan, Italy,” read an excerpt from the backgrounder, entitled “‘fast track’ of procurement for design build in Milan, Italy.”

“The new mission will require suitable accommodations to support both trade and consular programs.”

The backgrounder added the project would be completed using a “modified design-build” (MDB) approach — where the government provides contractors partial design plans, and leaves it to the contractor to finish the design work and oversee construction.

Canada closed down the Milan consulate in 2007.

MDB projects are common on complex builds undertaken by the Department of National Defence and Defence Construction Canada — a long-lived crown corporation responsible for large-scale defence and national-interest construction projects.



$37K spent on art displays
Documents say the $18.6 million office, which reopened in 2023, took three years to complete by Italian contractors.

Invoices obtained by Blacklock’s via Canada’s Access to Information Act included $37,295 spent on what’s described as “art displays,” and $6,400 spent on hiring a photographer.

This isn’t the first time Global Affairs Canada has been criticized for questionable spending.

In 2024, the Toronto Sun reported GAC spent $3.3 million on alcoholic beverages over the previous five years — averaging about $51,000 per month.

In Canada’s embassy in Manila, diplomats spent $4,536.42 on wine for 2023 Canada Day celebrations, a combined $4,798.39 on two separate bulk wine purchases, $723.67 on Crown Royal Whisky, and $1,146.10 for a March 31, 2023 purchase of ice wine.

Green Showcase Cost $18.6M | Blacklock's Reporter

blacklocks.ca

$18M spent to turn Milan consulate into climate change showcase

Shuttered in 2007, Canada reopened their Milan consulate in 2023. Read more

torontosun.com

 

[Dixie Cup]

$18M spent to turn Milan consulate into climate change showcase
Global Affairs Canada spent $37,295 spent on art displays for consulate, which re-opened in 2023

Author of the articleostmedia News
Published Feb 23, 2026 • Last updated 18 hours ago • 2 minute read

HCP_stockworker_003.JPG
Lester B. Pearson building on Sussex Drive in Ottawa, headquarters of Global Affairs Canada on Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026. Photo by HYUNGCHEOL PARK /Postmedia
Efforts by Global Affairs Canada to convert an Italian consular office into a showcase for Canada’s commitment to climate change cost taxpayers over $18 million.


According to documents made public this week via a report published Monday by Blacklock’s Reporter, the government made the decision in 2020 to reopen Canada’s previously-closed consulate in Milan, Italy — spending $18,619,067 to retrofit the office into a “showpiece” of energy efficiency.


“This commitment to environmental sustainability is emblematic of Canada’s efforts to combat climate change and its role as a world leader in the development of clean technologies,” Blacklock’s reported the Canadian Embassy saying at the time.

Milan consulate largely deals with trade
A May 25, 2022 backgrounder said the new Milan mission would largely be dedicated to furthering trade programs, with four of the five full-time consular staff at the site dedicated to that end.


“In Feb. 2020, the Minister of Foreign Affairs approved the initiative to reinstate a chancery in Milan, Italy,” read an excerpt from the backgrounder, entitled “‘fast track’ of procurement for design build in Milan, Italy.”

“The new mission will require suitable accommodations to support both trade and consular programs.”

The backgrounder added the project would be completed using a “modified design-build” (MDB) approach — where the government provides contractors partial design plans, and leaves it to the contractor to finish the design work and oversee construction.

Canada closed down the Milan consulate in 2007.

MDB projects are common on complex builds undertaken by the Department of National Defence and Defence Construction Canada — a long-lived crown corporation responsible for large-scale defence and national-interest construction projects.



$37K spent on art displays
Documents say the $18.6 million office, which reopened in 2023, took three years to complete by Italian contractors.

Invoices obtained by Blacklock’s via Canada’s Access to Information Act included $37,295 spent on what’s described as “art displays,” and $6,400 spent on hiring a photographer.

This isn’t the first time Global Affairs Canada has been criticized for questionable spending.

In 2024, the Toronto Sun reported GAC spent $3.3 million on alcoholic beverages over the previous five years — averaging about $51,000 per month.

In Canada’s embassy in Manila, diplomats spent $4,536.42 on wine for 2023 Canada Day celebrations, a combined $4,798.39 on two separate bulk wine purchases, $723.67 on Crown Royal Whisky, and $1,146.10 for a March 31, 2023 purchase of ice wine.

Green Showcase Cost $18.6M | Blacklock's Reporter

blacklocks.ca

$18M spent to turn Milan consulate into climate change showcase

Shuttered in 2007, Canada reopened their Milan consulate in 2023. Read more

torontosun.com

Ah hell, the money doesn't come out of their pockets so let's spend, spend, spend.

 

[spaminator]

City of Toronto’s experts fear World Cup floods: Documents
City Hall has game planned high-risk events such as terrorism and natural disasters, and the World Cup’s top threat might just be flooding

Author of the article:Justin Holmes
Published Feb 28, 2026 • Last updated 15 hours ago • 4 minute read

Lake Shore Blvd. flood
A flooded Lake Shore Blvd. W — not far from Toronto’s World Cup soccer venue BMO Field, is seen in July 2013. Photo by Ernest Doroszuk/Toronto Sun files
Toronto’s emergency planners are strategizing for the FIFA World Cup – and they’ve got water on the brain.


Documents obtained by the Toronto Sun in a freedom-of-information request suggest that Toronto emergency management, which co-ordinates City Hall’s responses to crises such as natural disasters, are more concerned about flooding than most other calamities during this summer’s soccer tournament.


A slide deck, put together for a meeting of the World Cup emergency preparedness working group in December 2024, scores a number of hazards for likelihood and average consequence. Flooding was ranked as the biggest total risk, in part because it had the highest rated likelihood – ahead of things like heat, cyberattacks, civil disorder and even overcrowding.

And an appendix, prepared by Toronto emergency management in January 2025 and specific to flood risk, speculated about flooding around Lake Shore Blvd., such as seen in 2017 and 2019, if Lake Ontario swells during heavy rains.


That could soak BMO Field as well, as the fan festival space at Fort York, and Union Station is also singled out as a problem spot for flooding. Other World Cup-related sites aren’t seen as flood risks – with the exception of Centennial Park, which will be used as a training site and could, in theory, have roads overtaken by a “storm event similar to the passage of Hurricane Hazel in 1954.”



A “risk register,” included in a “hazard identification and risk assessment” package compiled by Toronto emergency management, referred to flooding as “almost certain” to occur – defined in that document as having a chance of occurrence in a year at greater than 50%.


Other risks rated as “almost certain” include cyberattacks, disruption of infrastructure, an oil or natural gas emergency, civil disorder, extreme heat and transportation incidents.

Another risk assessment document, yet to be finalized as of late January 2025, contained another ranking. This one put cyberattacks, ranked third in the slide deck a month before, as the only Level 1 “risk priority.”

Floods are still seen as a major risk in this list, however, ranked as a Level 2 priority alongside disruption of infrastructure. (All other risks are listed as Level 3.)

World Cup risks
Tabletop scenarios
The Sun asked the City of Toronto in January if it could make one of its experts on flooding available for an interview. Instead, City Hall provided a statement with general remarks about risk assessment and flooding.


“The document you refer to is a draft presentation that had not been finalized or approved … This assessment is part of preplanning that will allow the city and emergency services to respond quickly in case of circumstances that could affect the tournament,” the statement said.

That “preplanning” work included a day-long “multi-agency tabletop exercise” in March 2025 to simulate a hypothetical release of chemicals affecting a “mass gathering” related to the soccer tournament, according to other documents the Sun was provided. (In a bit of stress testing – and perhaps wishful thinking – this scenario revolved around a high-attendance England-Argentina match at BMO Field on June 23.)

“This discussion-based exercise will bring together municipal, provincial and federal agencies, law enforcement, emergency responders, public health officials and FIFA representatives to test real-world response frameworks and enhance interoperability in preparation for FIFA World Cup 2026,” one document says.


The city also held a tabletop exercise specifically about flooding in February 2025, according to an email from an official with emergency management. Details about that event do not appear in the documents provided to the Sun.

In the city’s statement, it said Toronto “has experienced more frequent and intense rainfall events” as of late, thus the concerns about floods.

“While flooding does not pose an immediate or widespread threat to the tournament, it is a factor that must be considered when planning transportation, venue access and emergency response operations for an event of this scale,” the statement said.

While the Sun provided a list of questions about flood risk in Toronto, the city’s statement did not address those in detail. City Hall also would not say if flooding is viewed today as the biggest risk to the tournament.


World Cup hazards chart
This chart, part of a City of Toronto slide deck, scored a number of catastrophes that could theoretically strike the World Cup. Photo by City of Toronto
Big legal bill
The documents were provided to the Sun as part of a 442-page bundle after a freedom-of-information request, which sought to uncover emails sent to and from Toronto’s shelter services division related to the World Cup. The documents were provided to the Sun nearly a year later, and there are several redactions, citing security concerns, solicitor-client privilege and more.

Many of the included documents involve initiatives, such as the tabletop game-planning exercise, that involve much of the municipal government, not just shelter services.

The search was broad enough that the Sun obtained details seemingly wholly unrelated to housing and shelter. For example, an almost entirely redacted chart on consulting expenditures for 2024 shows that City Hall’s World Cup secretariat spent more than $445,000 for legal work by the firm Osler, Hoskin and Harcourt. (A description of that work was redacted.)

Toronto will host six matches during the World Cup, with the first taking place on June 12.

jholmes@postmedia.com

City of Toronto’s experts fear World Cup floods: Documents

City hall has game planned high-risk events such as terrorism and natural disasters, and the World Cup’s top threat might just be flooding.

torontosun.com