BC: First the Whine, Then the Wine
After the whine, came the wine—all on the taxpayers’ tab.
You may recall the Union of B.C. Municipalities meetings last September in Vancouver—the annual buntoss for mayors and councillors from across the province. The latest version was especially noteworthy, as civic politicians—facing election campaigns just weeks later—dumped all over the B.C. Government for having the audacity to suggest an Auditor General for Local Government.
Politician after politician rose and spoke against the AGLG—(using age-old chestnuts like, “Look at your own house first,” “Our taxpayers are already protected,” and “What problem is this trying to solve?”), and eventually the UBCM passed a resolution condemning the idea, but authorizing its executive to negotiate with the provincial government anyway. Anecdotal reports of hot air spikes and high winds in Vancouver’s downtown core during this debate have gone unconfirmed.
Anyway, with the whine—came the wine. A Freedom of Information request by The Tyee (nice work—see their story on this here) revealed that the B.C. Government threw a fancy reception for UBCM guests, at a cost of almost $50,000 to taxpayers. The bill includes:
- 1,475 glasses of wine, at $6.75 each, for a total of $9,956.25
- 496 bottles of domestic beer, at $6.75 each, for a total of $3,348
- 4 fresh Maki sushi trays, at $225 each, for a total of $900
- Cheeses for $3,600
- 25 dozen pan-seared spicy prawns at $40 each, for a total of $1,000
- 30 dozen pizza points at $30 each, for a total of $1,440
- 48 dozen chicken drummettes at $40 each, for a total of $1,920
- 25 dozen smoked sablefish skewers at $40 each, for a total of $1,000
- 20 dozen vegetarian spring rolls at $37 each, for a total of $740
And that’s only half the food.
Meanwhile, local politicians are already thinking about how to return the favour—this time courtesy of property taxpayers.
The Vancouver Sun recently reported that Metro Vancouver plans to wine and dine MLAs in Victoria, inviting all regional directors to “lobby” (their word, not mine) the government and opposition. Get ready for more big bills down the road!