OTTAWA, ON: The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is applauding the cancellation of the wasteful Mission Cultural Fund, the slush fund at Global Affairs that spent taxpayers’ money on a sex toy show in Germany and a photography exhibit for a rock star.
“This is a big win for taxpayers and it’s long overdue,” said Franco Terrazzano, Federal Director of the CTF. “Paying for a sex toy show in Germany and flying chefs around the world was a huge waste of taxpayers’ money and Global Affairs should have shut this down years ago.”
The federal government quietly issued a statement saying the Mission Cultural Fund “expired on March 31, 2023.”
The Mission Cultural Fund was created in 2016, as a $1.75-million-a-year fund “designed to promote our artists abroad while advancing foreign policy priorities.”
The fund has been consistently overbudget. While the fund was given a budget of $1.75 million annually, its actual average annual spending had been nearly $3.8 million during its first three years.