Not our dime

Here we go again.

A couple short months removed from regional councillors being embroiled in controversy after spending $15,000 on a celebratory lunch at an Ajax golf club, they now want to spend who knows how much more on a retreat.

The idea of some time away from the region to set council goals for this term was first raised by Oshawa councillor Nancy Diamond at the last meeting of regional council. The motion received much adulation from the other councillors in attendance.

And why wouldn’t it? Having a weekend away paid for by someone else is hard to turn down.

But it’s when that “someone else” is the taxpayers of Durham Region that it becomes a problem.

York Region got into hot water when its regional council did the same thing earlier this year, taking a few days off to go to King City to set goals for the term, putting the $15,000 tab on to the region’s residents.

In any other business, when there needs to be a meeting to discuss where the company is headed, typically the meeting doesn’t involve getting a paid trip out of town. No, the meeting takes place in a conference room, or whatever the largest open space in the building is. It doesn’t involve getting put up in a hotel and having someone else foot the bill.

Roger Anderson, having been elected by the general populace for the first time for the position he now holds, ran on a platform of saving money. In an interview with The Oshawa Express in November, shortly after the election, he talked about how there isn’t a lot of money lying around.

“There is not going to be a lot of money…you have to understand that if you (councillors) want it, you’re going to have to cut some services or add some money to the tax bill,” he said at the time.

So it seems hypocritical for Anderson to be talking about tightening belts at the region, while at the same time supporting a motion that would see thousands of dollars spent for councillors and staff to go on a retreat.

And Anderson was far from the only politician in the last election that said something similar.

Meetings to discuss council goals are going to be a necessity no matter what. Having a clear set of goals for the region moving forward will ensure that things get done rather than being lost in the noise of council chambers.

But that meeting can take place at one of the numerous meeting rooms at regional headquarters in Whitby. It doesn’t have to take place somewhere else on our dime.