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BEFORE WE DIVE INTO THE ARTICLE. PLEASE TAKE A MOMENT TO NOTICE THAT X LABLED EXPOSING THIS FRAUD AS HATRED. HOW EMBARRASSING FOR THIER CLAIMS OF FREE SPEECH!
The Canadian Embassy in Washington under the oversight of Global Affairs Canada hired a consultant at a staggering rate of two thousand United States dollars per hour to provide advice on communicating with Americans, including an explanation of right wing messaging, according to a report from Blacklock’s Reporter published on August 20, 2025. This information stems from an Access to Information and Privacy request, a process Blacklock’s frequently uses to expose government spending, yet the full details remain locked behind a paywall, leaving the public with only a teaser that reveals the exorbitant hourly rate and the vague nature of the consultancy work. The timing of this hire follows boasts by then Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly who claimed Canadian diplomats possessed deep expertise into American society, a statement now mocked as hollow given the need to pay an external consultant such an outrageous sum. No official confirmation or denial has emerged from Global Affairs Canada, the embassy, or Joly herself, casting doubt on their transparency and accountability as the story broke just hours ago at 11:35 UTC.
The lack of specific contract details, including total cost, duration, or start and end dates, fuels suspicion that this could be another instance of wasteful government expenditure, especially when independent verification from government contract databases like open canada ca shows no matching records for this hire. Searches reveal other GAC contracts for communication services, such as twenty one thousand eight hundred ten Canadian dollars for public relations or one hundred ninety five thousand forty seven Canadian dollars for information technology consultants, but none align with the two thousand dollar per hour figure or the focus on American communication strategies. This gap suggests possible delays in disclosure, redaction for security reasons, or the contract being structured to avoid public scrutiny, a tactic that has plagued past government projects like the ArriveCAN app where contractors charged up to two thousand six hundred dollars per hour. Kirsten Hillman, the Canadian Ambassador to the United States since 2020, bears responsibility for embassy operations where this decision originated, likely approving or requesting the consultancy amid rising Canada United States trade tensions, yet her silence on the matter is deafening and indicative of negligence.
David Morrison, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs at Global Affairs Canada, oversees day to day operations including contract approvals and should have flagged the excessive rate, but his failure to prevent or justify this spending points to incompetence or complicity. The unnamed consultant or firm, potentially a United States based strategic communications outfit, remains a shadowy figure with no public identity, prompting X users to demand disclosure and speculate about ties to the Liberal Party of Canada, a pattern seen in previous scandals where government friendly contractors benefited. Melanie Joly, now Industry Minister but Foreign Affairs Minister during the relevant period, is directly accountable for the department’s actions, her earlier boasts about diplomatic expertise now exposed as empty rhetoric that necessitated this costly hire, reflecting poorly on her leadership and judgment. The involvement of the United States Trade Representative Katherine Tai, tagged in the original post, suggests this consultancy might relate to trade negotiations, but her lack of comment only adds to the perception of a cover up.
Broader Liberal government figures like Prime Minister Mark Carney and the Finance Minister, whose identity remains consistent with Francois Philippe Champagne based on recent cabinet updates, oversee overall spending and failed to curb such extravagance, contributing to a culture of fiscal irresponsibility. Past examples of questionable consultant hires further tarnish their record, including David Johnston’s twenty eight thousand dollar contract with a Rideau Hall linked firm for public relations in 2023, Kike Ojo Thompson’s one thousand six hundred twenty five dollar per hour charge for diversity training in 2023 amid white supremacy claims, Laith Shubeilat’s four hundred seventy dollar per day anti racism consultancy for Heritage Canada in 2022 linked to anti Semitism allegations, and unnamed ArriveCAN contractors reaching two thousand six hundred dollars per hour in 2024 leading to audits. Additionally, a Canadian Broadcasting Corporation pundit received twenty two thousand dollars from Minister Maryam Monsef in 2020 for media training, highlighting a systemic issue of overpayment.
The context of this hire ties to Canada’s engagement with the United States campaign launched around 2024 2025 to counter tariffs and enhance security collaboration, yet the decision to outsource at such a high rate when in house experts should suffice reeks of mismanagement. Canada’s economic reliance on the United States, with twenty seven percent of goods exported there and one hundred ninety eight billion Canadian dollars in energy trade in 2023, underscores the need for effective diplomacy, but paying two thousand dollars per hour exceeds typical rates for top United States lobbyists who charge five hundred to one thousand dollars per hour. Public reaction on X with over six hundred likes, three hundred reposts, and one hundred ninety replies condemns the waste, with comments like comedy gold if it wasn’t my money and demands to fix stupid, reflecting widespread outrage. Blacklock’s right leaning bias against Liberals is noted, but their reliance on official records lends credibility, though left leaning sources like the Tyee have also criticized GAC for issues like website censorship, suggesting bipartisan discontent.
The absence of leaked documents or media follow up beyond the initial report leaves many questions unanswered, with no consultant name revealed despite calls for transparency, a failure that rests on Joly, Hillman, and Morrison to rectify. Government consultant spending has ballooned from eight billion Canadian dollars in 2015 to twenty one billion in 2023 per Auditor General reports, with firms like McKinsey and Company receiving over two hundred million Canadian dollars since 2015, indicating a troubling trend of outsourcing core functions. A new eighty five thousand dollar per month contract in February 2025 with a firm for District of Columbia connections further exemplifies this pattern, and the lack of accountability from all involved parties ensures this scandal will likely fade without consequence unless further ATIP disclosures or parliamentary scrutiny force action.
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