Canadian chefs are cooking up a storm around the world – but all at taxpayer expense, says Blacklock’s Reporter..The Foreign Affairs department has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars sending chefs around the world so people can dine on “.modern Indigenous cuisine.”.The fly-a-chef program cost $1.75 million a year..The foreign affairs department previously used a Mission Cultural Fund to fly chefs by business class to overseas missions from Singapore to Jerusalem to cook Canadian food..Expenses included $15,000 to fly an unnamed chef to the Dominican Republic for a 2017 Canada Day banquet to promote “Canada’s global image.” Another unnamed chef was flown to Miami to prepare “signature Canadian dishes” at a July 1, 2017 party at a cost of $4,643..New York caterer Quentin Glabus, formerly the executive chef at the Canadian ambassador’s residence in Beijing, in 2017 was flown to Brunei, India, Laos, the Philippines and Singapore to attend $55,533 banquets..“Chef Glabus celebrates a modern indigenous cuisine,” staff wrote in one memo..A $13,535 trip to Manila saw Glabus appear on a Filipino TV show Curiosity Got The Chef..A $12,684 trip to Singapore saw Glabus “prepare a dinner at the Official Residence with lifestyle journalist invitees,” according to Access To Information records..Glabus also attended a World Gourmet Summit in Singapore where he served lobster roll, bannock, smoked duck broth and wild rice shortbread..In Laos, a meal was arranged where “key contacts and media would be invited to highlight the food and allow us to pass on key advocacy messages about diversity, inclusion and indigenous issues,” said records..David Jorge of Surrey, B.C., winner of a 2015 CTV game show MasterChef Canada, was flown at a $1,191 cost to Lisbon to cook for a 2017 Canada Day reception at the Canadian embassy..Chef Rosalyn Ediger of Calgary was assigned to Davos, Switzerland for the 2017 World Economic Forum at a cost of $5,820..Chef Ilona Daniel of Charlottetown in 2017 was flown to Addis Ababa with six nights at the local Marriott Hotel at an undisclosed cost. Chef Joan Monfaredi of Toronto was hired to cook in Jakarta. Monfaredi’s billings were not detailed..Mission Cultural Fund billings did not include $18,992 spent by Vancouver restaurateur Vikram Vij to prepare a Delhi banquet during Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s 2018 visit to India..Vij’s expenses included business-class flights..“Mr. Vij generously offered a week of his time away from his Canadian businesses to assist with the menu,” said a memo.
