$1.03M spent hosting two government conferences: documents
Costs included $37K for staff per diems, hundreds of thousands in lunches and dinners, $1.3K for musical spoons
Author of the article:Bryan Passifiume
Published Nov 20, 2025 • Last updated 10 hours ago • 3 minute read
Taxpayers spent $71.4 billion on the federal civil service in the 2024/25 fiscal year — that's up from $39.6 billion a decade ago. Read on.
Taxpayers spent $71.4 billion on the federal civil service in the 2024/25 fiscal year — that's up from $39.6 billion a decade ago. Read on.
OTTAWA — $94,000 dinners, $915 flower arrangements and $1,340 for “musical spoons.”
That’s just a small list of expenses incurred for a pair of plush government conferences in 2024 that collectively cost taxpayers $1.03 million, according to government disclosures.
Held last year in Montreal from July 5 to 8, the 49th annual Assemblée Parlementaire de la Francophonie cost taxpayers $631,569 for the three-day event — a figure that includes accommodations, transportation, food, per diems and artistic performances.
$303K hospitality, $156K hotel rooms for Francophone conference
“You know the government is spending way too much money when it could have taken everyone out for lunch at the Keg, ordered the most expensive meal on the menu and still saved taxpayers money,” said Franco Terrazzano, federal director of the Canadian Taxpayers Association.
“It seems like every time the government hosts a conference, it goes out of its way to spend taxpayers’ money as extravagantly as possible.”
Attendees and participants billed a total of $155,565.23 in accommodation charges for 27 staff and 86 unnamed “participants,” musicians and security staff, $87,339.45 for transportation, $20,567 in per diems and $303,585.57 in hospitality charges.
In addition, three Parliamentary staffers and two security personnel charged $1,720 for a “site visit” one month before the actual event.
Pricey catering, dinners for conference
The largest hospitality charges were listed as “lunch and breaks” for delegates, totalling $198,273.81 for 475 people at the Fairmont Queen Elizabeth.
That totals roughly $417 per person.
As well, $28,940 was charged for a “dinner buffet and lunch boxes” for 85 participants.
Around $79,300 was spent for a July 8 “cultural dinner” for 475 participants catered by Montreal’s Las Olas Traiteur, who bill themselves as “creator of gourmet emotions.”
Other charges for that dinner include $11,305.23 for three performers — Mi’kmaq artist Megan Leinen, acrobatic troupe Le Monastère, and Ottawa-based trad-rock band Les Rats d’Swompe — and $1,339.67 for an undetermined number of “musical spoons” purchased from Amazon.
Months prior to the event, $53,475.97 was spent in preparation — including $6,200 on designing and printing of “cultural artistic” notebooks and delegate bags, and $6,476.25 for a July 5 “dinner for bureau members.”
$405K to host NATO Parliamentary Assembly conference
Later that year, $405,418 was spent to host the 70th annual session of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, also held in Montreal, from Nov. 22 to 25.
The event was attended by a delegation of senators and MPs, led by chair of the Canadian NATO Parliamentary Association Julie Dzerowicz.
For that event, $46,220.89 was spent on transportation, $62,987.05 for accommodations for 25 staff, two security workers and seven panelists, $21,047.60 for per diems, and $227.546.53 for hospitality.
There was also a “site visit” to the NATO Parliamentary Association’s spring session, held from May 24 to 27 in the Bulgarian capital of Sofia, but full costs on that trip weren’t immediately known.
As well, $15,283.86 was spent on a four-day, nine-person site visit from Oct. 1 to 4.
$36,034 was spent on “health breaks” for nearly 600 participants — actually meals from Montreal oyster bay Maestro, who also received an additional $52,181 to cater the Nov. 22 welcome reception and a Nov. 25 luncheon.
Dinners for the event cost $134,000 — a cost that includes a $94,937.16 for a Nov. 24 dinner reception facilitated by Éloize Studios/Cirque Éloize.
As well, nearly $13,000 was spent on lanyards, lapel pins, pens and scarves for delegate gift bags.
“Why is the government spending a thousand dollars on musical spoons for a dinner show when it could have just grabbed a couple spoons off the tables?” Terrazzano wondered.
“The government needs to stop looking for ways to blow taxpayers’ money.”
bpassifiume@postmedia.com
X: @bryanpassifiume
torontosun.com
Costs included $37K for staff per diems, hundreds of thousands in lunches and dinners, $1.3K for musical spoons
Author of the article:Bryan Passifiume
Published Nov 20, 2025 • Last updated 10 hours ago • 3 minute read
Taxpayers spent $71.4 billion on the federal civil service in the 2024/25 fiscal year — that's up from $39.6 billion a decade ago. Read on.
Taxpayers spent $71.4 billion on the federal civil service in the 2024/25 fiscal year — that's up from $39.6 billion a decade ago. Read on.
OTTAWA — $94,000 dinners, $915 flower arrangements and $1,340 for “musical spoons.”
That’s just a small list of expenses incurred for a pair of plush government conferences in 2024 that collectively cost taxpayers $1.03 million, according to government disclosures.
Held last year in Montreal from July 5 to 8, the 49th annual Assemblée Parlementaire de la Francophonie cost taxpayers $631,569 for the three-day event — a figure that includes accommodations, transportation, food, per diems and artistic performances.
$303K hospitality, $156K hotel rooms for Francophone conference
“You know the government is spending way too much money when it could have taken everyone out for lunch at the Keg, ordered the most expensive meal on the menu and still saved taxpayers money,” said Franco Terrazzano, federal director of the Canadian Taxpayers Association.
“It seems like every time the government hosts a conference, it goes out of its way to spend taxpayers’ money as extravagantly as possible.”
Attendees and participants billed a total of $155,565.23 in accommodation charges for 27 staff and 86 unnamed “participants,” musicians and security staff, $87,339.45 for transportation, $20,567 in per diems and $303,585.57 in hospitality charges.
In addition, three Parliamentary staffers and two security personnel charged $1,720 for a “site visit” one month before the actual event.
Pricey catering, dinners for conference
The largest hospitality charges were listed as “lunch and breaks” for delegates, totalling $198,273.81 for 475 people at the Fairmont Queen Elizabeth.
That totals roughly $417 per person.
As well, $28,940 was charged for a “dinner buffet and lunch boxes” for 85 participants.
Around $79,300 was spent for a July 8 “cultural dinner” for 475 participants catered by Montreal’s Las Olas Traiteur, who bill themselves as “creator of gourmet emotions.”
Other charges for that dinner include $11,305.23 for three performers — Mi’kmaq artist Megan Leinen, acrobatic troupe Le Monastère, and Ottawa-based trad-rock band Les Rats d’Swompe — and $1,339.67 for an undetermined number of “musical spoons” purchased from Amazon.
Months prior to the event, $53,475.97 was spent in preparation — including $6,200 on designing and printing of “cultural artistic” notebooks and delegate bags, and $6,476.25 for a July 5 “dinner for bureau members.”
$405K to host NATO Parliamentary Assembly conference
Later that year, $405,418 was spent to host the 70th annual session of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, also held in Montreal, from Nov. 22 to 25.
The event was attended by a delegation of senators and MPs, led by chair of the Canadian NATO Parliamentary Association Julie Dzerowicz.
For that event, $46,220.89 was spent on transportation, $62,987.05 for accommodations for 25 staff, two security workers and seven panelists, $21,047.60 for per diems, and $227.546.53 for hospitality.
There was also a “site visit” to the NATO Parliamentary Association’s spring session, held from May 24 to 27 in the Bulgarian capital of Sofia, but full costs on that trip weren’t immediately known.
As well, $15,283.86 was spent on a four-day, nine-person site visit from Oct. 1 to 4.
$36,034 was spent on “health breaks” for nearly 600 participants — actually meals from Montreal oyster bay Maestro, who also received an additional $52,181 to cater the Nov. 22 welcome reception and a Nov. 25 luncheon.
Dinners for the event cost $134,000 — a cost that includes a $94,937.16 for a Nov. 24 dinner reception facilitated by Éloize Studios/Cirque Éloize.
As well, nearly $13,000 was spent on lanyards, lapel pins, pens and scarves for delegate gift bags.
“Why is the government spending a thousand dollars on musical spoons for a dinner show when it could have just grabbed a couple spoons off the tables?” Terrazzano wondered.
“The government needs to stop looking for ways to blow taxpayers’ money.”
bpassifiume@postmedia.com
X: @bryanpassifiume
$1.03M spent hosting two government conferences: documents
A pair of plush government conferences in 2024 collectively cost taxpayers $1.03 million, according to government disclosures. Read more.