Paying someone in the $200,000 (Canadian) range to work in San Francisco isn't extravagant.
As of July 2017, average rent for an apartment in San Francisco is $4,798  Canadian ($3,828 U.S.) [Source, Rent Jungle.]
$140,00 Canadian a year, just doesn't cut it in SF, unless you want your Canadian Consul General entertaining  from a basement apartment, with a shared bathroom.
SF makes Toronto look like Moosonee when it come to cost of living. 
It may be political patronage, but it ain't wasting money.

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