Local councilors flood conference

Eighteen of the 28 elected representatives in the region’s three cities are attending the same out-of-province conference. That works out to 64 per cent of municipally elected officials who are in Halifax for the Federation of Canadian Municipalities’ (FCM) 74th Annual Conference and Municipal Expo.

Cambridge has sent 7 members of its 9-person council (78%), Kitchener has 8 of its 11-member council in Halifax (73%) and Waterloo has sent 3 of its 8-member council (38%).

Mayor Doug Craig takes no issue with the large Cambridge contingent, as only councillors Rick Cowsill and Ben Tucci opted out of the weekend conference.

“It’s always necessary and you get criticized unless it’s five miles away,” Craig tells 570 News. “But the point is that you learn from these things and you come back with things that make the community better.”

Craig says gatherings such as the one happening in Halifax are useful for lobbying efforts and can help bring cities federal dollars such as those provided to Cambridge for its Drayton Theatre project.

“You don’t get monies from the federal and provincial governments by putting an application in the mail and sending it in,” Craig points out.

Tucci has done some lobbying of his own to get conference-related expenses reduced by Cambridge council. His motion failed.

“There is no benefit to the City or taxpayers to have (so many) of us on council going (to FCM), though I do think it is important the new members go at least once (during their term),” Tucci said in an e-mail, explaining why he chose not to attend. “I am proud to say I have the lowest expenses on Council.”

Cambridge has not yet been able to provide specific expense figures for this particular conference but the city does have a policy that limits councillors to two conferences per year at city expense. According to that policy, “the Association of Municipalities of Ontario Conference and the Federation of Canadian Municipalities Conference will be considered as part of the maximum allotment of two per year.”

In Kitchener, where there are 7 new faces on council, the FCM conference is described as a “learning opportunity” where councillors can meet their counterparts from across the country. Kitchener councillor Berry Vrbanovic has also been named the new president of the FCM and the strong Kitchener presence in Halifax has been explained, in part, as a show of support for a colleague.

The registration fee for the conference is $700 and estimates from Kitchener put the cost of the trip, per councillor, at between $2000 and $2500. That works out to $16,000-$20,000 for the Kitchener contingent to make the trip.

It’s a number that does not sit well with Frank Etherington, one of three Kitchener councillors who opted out of the FCM conference. Etherington thinks having eight out of 11 members of council at the same conference is too much.

“I tabled a motion earlier this year to try and reduce expenses for conferences and home office budgets, but it was defeated,” admits Etherington, who was at home this weekend with councillors Yvonne Fernandes and John Gazzola, the other members of Kitchener council who chose not to attend the FCM conference.

Etherington says he has been mulling over ways to reintroduce his motion related to council expenses and he was intrigued by a policy in Waterloo.

In an e-mailed statement from City staff, the policy in Waterloo was explained.

“The last council agreed that to control travel expense costs and to be fiscally responsible, we would limit FCM attendance to the mayor and two councillors, and that all councillors would get a chance to attend over the four-year council term. Councillors submit their request to the mayor and council works together to decide who will go each year. This practice carried over to this council.”

Councillor Karen Scian says Waterloo has an annual budget of $30,000 for council-related travel expenses, which includes travel for the mayor.