Canada ending 'Buffalo shuffle' for visas, closing consulate (in Buffalo, NY) [View all]
Source: CBC
The Harper government is closing the Canadian consulate in Buffalo only 18 months after spending more than $1.5 million on renovations and signing a 10-year lease that is almost certain to stick taxpayers with millions in rent for empty offices, CBC News has learned.
Foreign Affairs is expected to announce the closure, which will affect about 75 employees, sometime next week.
One official estimates that abandoning the consulate's two floors in Buffalo's tallest downtown office tower will leave Canadian taxpayers on the hook for about $8 million in rent (that includes the renovation costs) between now and the end of the lease in 2020.
The closure of one of Canada’s largest and oldest diplomatic outposts in the United States is the result of federal budget cuts and a major change to immigration rules.
Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2012/05/25/pol-weston-buffalo-consul.html
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