Sunday, February 13, 2011
Home: Calgary, Alberta, Canada
One of the local news stories this past week was about our mayor going to Toronto and having a private firm pay for his trip. People tried to make hay out of the fact that the trip was paid for.
What I understand, based on no research, just listening to the radio, is that he was invited to go and give a speech. The people who invited him paid his expenses.
That seems quite acceptable to me, with one big caveat, and that is, we need to be clear on whether any elected people should accept invitations from the private sector, period, and what the rules for that should be. That is a discussion for another day.
The issue getting all the attention was, who paid for the trip to Toronto. Frankly that doesn’t concern me as much as who decides how the mayor should spend his time.
If going to Toronto and speaking at whatever venues he did is going to help the mayor advance Calgary’s interests in a meaningful way, then he was right to go. I would hope the decision to go was part of the mayor’s plan for Calgary, and that it advances a strategic objective.
Two or three days of the mayor’s time is very valuable. Was the trip worth the time?
This mayor seems to be an intelligent guy with common sense. I expect he determined it was in Calgary’s best interest that he go to Toronto and I’m optimistic that we got, or will get, some value out of that trip. Time will tell, I suppose.
One thing I’m sure of: a working trip to Toronto in February is hardly a boondoggle.
jill