Telefilm budgets $1.5 million for French Riviera pavilion after Carney promised to cut ‘wasteful spending’
The upscale facility would include a bar and theatre-style seating for 80 people on the French Riviera.
Telefilm Canada has budgeted $1.5 million for a temporary Canadian pavilion on the French Riviera, even as Prime Minister Mark Carney's government promises to rein in federal spending.
According to records reported by Blacklock’s Reporter, the Crown corporation issued a request for proposals for a 1,600-square-foot Canadian pavilion to be used at the Cannes Film Festival and other events in France through 2029.
The planned facility would include a bar and theatre-style seating for 80 people.
“Our pavilions should be created and designed with the following objectives in mind: create a hub, a focal point for Canada’s presence at a festival or market,” Telefilm wrote in its contracting notice.
The agency said the space should be “flexible, welcoming and innovative” and argued that promoting Canadian film and television internationally remains central to its mandate.
Telefilm did not respond to questions from Blacklock’s. The $1.5-million figure does not include a detailed operating budget for the pavilion.
The expense comes after Carney told Liberal caucus members last September that his government was focused on “eliminating wasteful government spending.”
“Canada’s new government will spend less so Canadians can invest more,” Carney said at the time, promising “a new fiscal discipline” and warning that Ottawa would have to make “tough choices.”
The Cannes project follows another costly Canadian pavilion overseas.
Records previously obtained by Blacklock’s showed taxpayers spent $32.5 million on Canada's pavilion at the 2025 World Expo in Osaka, Japan.
That bill included $28.5 million to design and build the pavilion, $2.3 million to staff it with 100 employees, $574,443 for consultants and publicists, $541,653 for janitorial services and nearly $160,000 for uniforms.
The Osaka spending similarly followed promises from the federal government to control expenses. Then-finance minister Chrystia Freeland said in her final budget that governments had a responsibility to remember public funds were “the money of Canadians.”
Sheila Gunn Reid
Chief Reporter
Sheila Gunn Reid is the Editor-in-Chief, Alberta Bureau Chief, member of the board of directors, and host of The Gunn Show at Rebel News. Sheila also serves as President of the Independent Press Gallery of Canada. A mother of three and longtime conservative activist, Sheila is the author of bestselling books, including her most recent release, Independence Blueprint: What Alberta Can Learn From Quebec.
https://mybook.to/sheila
COMMENTS
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Fran g commented 2026-08-14 19:39:48 -0400We should take note how a president or prime minister (the article came out recently, that I can not find again, if anybody knows please let me know who it was and from what country) is now being put to death for his crimes in that country. How interesting!!!!!!!!!!!!! -
Bruce Atchison commented 2026-08-11 19:57:19 -0400The only way to stop this sort of waste is to oust the Liberals and get in a fiscally-responsible Conservative government. Canada will have to go bankrupt before that happens. Too many uniformed voters keep voting Liberal.
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Bernhard Jatzeck commented 2026-08-11 16:03:01 -0400How is this considered to be “useful” spending and who benefits from it? (I think we already know the answer to the second part.)
