Five members of New Westminster city council attended the Federation of Canadian Municipalities convention in Vancouver. but only one used city funds for hotel accommodations.
About 2,000 municipal politicians from across Canada attended the federation's annual conference and trade show, which was held May 31 to June 3 at the Vancouver Convention Centre. During the convention, delegates elected a board of directors, watched presentations from federal politicians and attended a variety of seminars and workshops.
Some critics have voiced concerns about council members from the Lower Mainland using tax dollars to stay in hotels in downtown Vancouver, rather than commuting back and forth to the conference.
Jennifer Janzen, an office assistant in the legislative service's department at city hall, said the city covered Mayor Wayne Wright's expenses at the Pan Pacific Hotel, where the rate was $359 for each of three nights he stayed there. Coun. Betty McIntosh paid for her own hotel accommodations, while councillors Bill Harper, Chuck Puchmayr and Lorrie Williams attended the conference but did not stay overnight in Vancouver.
"As far as I am concerned, it is money well spent," Wright said. "You get your money's worth out of it."
Wright said he was on the go from morning till night, as he rose no later than 6 a.m. each day during the conference. Breakfast started at 7 a.m. and sessions were underway by 8 or 8:30 a.m, followed by evening functions including a gala dinner.
"We each have an amount of money we can spend each year," Wright said of expenses provided to council members annually. "Everybody is pretty aware of how we do it."
On Sunday night, Wright joined other Metro Vancouver mayors in hosting a table at the gala dinner.
"I had a table of eight from around the country," he said. "Each mayor was given a table to discuss the Lower Mainland."
Wright took time out of the convention schedule to attend a gala dinner for Honour House that was held in Vancouver on June 1, but was back at the conference early Sunday morning.
McIntosh said there's an "understanding" among New Westminster councillors that hotel expenses won't be covered by the city if a conference takes place in Vancouver, but she would support a 50/50 cost-sharing agreement between the city and the participant for hotel accommodations, as there are benefits to being immersed in the convention.
"I find it more valuable to get immersed in the conference," said McIntosh, who paid more than $800 for three night's accommodations. "You are not just going to a conference - you are trying to network with other people."
While there is much to be learned at the organized sessions and excursions to places such as Port Metro Vancouver sites, McIntosh said the less formal evening session provide a great networking opportunity.
"You get a perspective that is not a local perspective," she said. "If you are ready to listen and engage with other people, it's a much better way of understanding that every community across Canada has issues. Many are shared issues."
Because some of the evening events don't end until after 10 p.m., McIntosh said it's difficult to get up at 5 a.m. to be on SkyTrain for 6 a.m. in order to make the opening events of the day. She added that the commute might limit which sessions people are able to participate in at the conference.
By staying in Vancouver, Wright said he was able to attend all of the evening's functions. During the conference, Wright was the lone small city mayor to attend a meeting of mayors from large cities in Canada.
"I was the only mayor that was invited to the 'big mayors' meeting. I went there because of housing," he said. "I was invited there by Gregor Robertson to observe what is going on because of my Metro Vancouver hat of being chair of the housing committee. Then I listened to the other mayors in the other cities - it is the same everywhere. The bottom line is we have to get all levels of government to look at and find out how this issue, which is bordering on crisis, how to get us all together on the same page."
More than 25 delegates from the convention also headed out to New Westminster to tour the city's downtown and Westminster Pier Park, where city officials explained how and why the city reclaimed the brownfield site and created a riverfront park. As the group toured the park, a train passed by and blew its whistle - sparking a conversation about how municipalities could band together to address their common issue of railway noise.
"It shows across the country that there is a need to be looking at that whistle problem," Wright said.
In related news, delegates elected New Westminster councillor Lorrie Williams as a director of the B.C. caucus to the Federation of Canadian Municipalities.
