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Vancouver mayor’s overseas trips latest to be questioned

Mayor Gregor Robertson would like to see his city's goal of reducing greenhouse gases by 80% adopted across the country

Several special interest groups are questioning why mayors are spending taxpayers’ dollars to attend conferences and meetings overseas. This comes in light of Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson’s trip to the UN climate change conference in Paris.

This year, Robertson has also taken trips to China and the Vatican, where he was the only Canadian invited to meet with Pope Francis to speak on climate change issues.

While Robertson is known for championing sustainability and green living, some are criticizing his carbon footprint – partially at taxpayers’ expense – to attend the Paris summit, calling such travel hypocritical, particularly since other levels of government are in attendance too.  

Jordan Bateman, B.C. director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, says that international travel isn’t justified for mayors.

“It’s just a way for mayors to see the world on taxpayers’ dime,” he told Yahoo Canada News. “There’s little or no evidence that they actually generate any positive contribution to the cities that they supposedly serve. It’s really just a chance to tour the world and get some funky photo ops.”

A spokesman for Robertson told Yahoo Canada News that “airfare costs for Mayor Robertson and his Chief of Staff are being covered by the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group, in addition to a significant portion of their accommodations costs.”

Roughly $2,500 of the mayor's costs for his travel to meet Pope Francis was covered by the Vatican, while the trip to China “did not have any costs covered by a third party.” The cost to taxpayers for the China trip wasn’t provided.

Other mayors who have shown up on the federation’s radar include former Surrey mayor Dianne Watts, who prior to being elected as an MP made several foreign trips in her last term. Meanwhile, Burnaby Mayor Derek Corrigan made a trip to Arizona in 2013 “while it was very cold in B.C.,” says Bateman.

“Frankly, mayors are a dime a dozen,” he adds. “A prime minister can sign a trade deal on behalf of Canada, a premier, there’s certain doors that can be opened but…there’s nothing terribly special about the mayor’s office when it comes to attracting foreign investment.”

Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi has been vocal about making his spending habits, including travel, public. For the first six months of the year, he only travelled within Canada including trips to Victoria, Quebec and Toronto.

Amber Ruddy, Alberta director of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, says with the advent of things like video conferencing, it seems unnecessary to have mayors and council travelling, on the taxpayers’ dime.

“There’s a lot of innovation and ways we communicate beyond a high price flight and all the expenses that comes along with it,” she told Yahoo Canada News.

She says in Alberta, business confidence is at an all-time low, since mayors and their council are proposing property tax hikes. They need to keep their spending in line with a sustainable benchmark, Ruddy adds, which is why travel should be eliminated.

“We can cut the long distance travel that seem a little bit out of the scope of what mayors and council should be focusing on,” she says.

Andrew Sancton, professor of political science at Western University, says travel is a reality for any mayor of a major city, particularly for Robertson, who’s internationally recognized as a leader for his commitment to combatting climate change.

“Mayor Robertson has successfully carved out a position for himself as a major world municipal leader on climate change so it’s not surprising to me that he’d…go to Paris,” he says. “It is part of the branding of Vancouver and he’s doing an impressive job on that.”