Strathmore

Strathmore: Canada's sale of ambassador's residence no pot of gold

Sujets: 
Joanna Gualtieri, Foreign Affairs, Strathmore, Property management
Scores: 
4
Strathmore

Lee Berthiaume – October 7, 2011

As the Irish real estate market began to crash in 2008, Canadian foreign affairs officials recommended the government not move ahead with plans to sell Canada's historic ambassadorial residence in Dublin, newly released documents show.

But the government ultimately rejected the advice — and appears to have lost millions of taxpayer dollars in the subsequent deal.

Video: Strathmore Extravagance

Sujets: 
Joanna Gualtieri, Foreign Affairs, Strathmore, Property management, Videos
Scores: 
4
Joanna Gualtieri
Joanna Gualtieri

With the sale of Canada's lavish ambassador's residence in Ireland this 2003 CBC documentary is now topical again. Once valued at up to $35 million, Strathmore sits next door to millionaire rock star Bono's luxury home – but it's much larger.

For years public servants repeatedly recommended that the property be sold, since it was so expensive to run and far beyond the requirements for an official residence. But the minister nixed this plan – in a one-line email. Joanna Gualtieri explains how the system works to perpetuate lavish waste and extravagance.

Foreign Affairs: Decades of Property Management Controversy

Topics: 
Foreign Affairs, Strathmore, Property management
Rating: 
0

For decades Foreign Affairs has had a deplorable track record in its management of staff accommodations abroad, while its portfolio of properties – often lavishly extravagant and wasteful – has ballooned into billions of dollars.

When the Auditor General criticized the department for its lack of controls, it responded by setting up the Bureau of Physical Resources to ensure that its real estate assets were managed efficiently and in line with Treasury Board rules. But the Bureau found itself powerless in the face of entrenched opposition by senior diplomats accustomed to indulging themselves.

Pampered diplomats protest scaling back of luxury accommodations

Sujets: 
Joanna Gualtieri, Foreign Affairs, Strathmore
Scores: 
3

By David Hutton, David Kilgour, Michele Brill-Edwards and Brian McAdam
Hill Times: January 19th, 2009

Some recent media reports indicate that Foreign Affairs is finally taking steps to curb the waste and extravagance that has for decades been the hallmark of its accommodations abroad. In particular, the disposal of Strathmore, the ambassador’s official residence in Ireland, has triggered anxious cries of “foul” from some members of our diplomatic elite.

Canada sells storied diplomatic digs in Dublin

Sujets: 
Foreign Affairs, Strathmore
Scores: 
0
Strathmore

Randy Boswell, Canwest News Service
Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Strathmore
Strathmore real estate listing

Despite objections from former envoys and an online petition by an Irish-Canadian group to "save Strathmore," Canada's historic ambassadorial residence in Ireland has been sold as part of a deal to downsize Canada's diplomatic digs in Dublin.

Canada selling Macdonald House in London

Sujets: 
Foreign Affairs, Strathmore
Scores: 
0

London diplomatic office worth $600M

Strathmore

Randy Boswell, Canwest News Service
Tuesday, December 17, 2008

Strathmore
Macdonald House

The federal government is getting rid of one of the country's prized foreign properties - a palatial British building named after Canada's first prime minister.

The government has formally launched its bid to unload the eight-storey, $600-million Macdonald House in downtown London, as part of a real estate exchange to "unlock the value" of the historic mansion and to "improve operational efficiencies" at the Canadian High Commission.

Strathmore Property Listing 2004

Sujets: 
Strathmore
Scores: 
0
Strathmore

“Undoubtedly one of Dublin’s most important residences”.

Strathmore stands on 3.654Ha (9.03 Acres) and for the past fifty years has been the official residence of the Canadian Ambassador in Ireland. This most impressive home was designed by Alfred Gresham Jones and originally dates from the 1860’s, it was extensively remodelled in the late 1940’s by Oliver Hill Architect, a pupil of Sir Edwin Lutyens.

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