Delta Mayor George Harvie has refused to answer questions over his travel bills as chair of the Metro Vancouver board of directors.
Harvie has expensed tens of thousands of dollars in travel so far this year but has not provided an explanation as to why.
He was voted off the board, but still has an upcoming trip to the Netherlands.
Harvie did not answer questions from Global News about his travel plans at a time when North Shore households are possibly on the hook for more than $700 annually for 30 years and Metro Vancouver taxpayers could pay up to $140 a year, absorbing the extra costs of the nearly $4-billion North Shore Wastewater Treatment Plant.
In New Westminster, Coun. Daniel Fontaine is calling for an independent review of the plant’s costs and how the budget has nearly quadrupled.
“Discussion around the actual costs, what triggered it and what we can learn from that particular project to make sure that we don’t have that happen again at the wastewater treatment plant,” Fontaine told Global News.
He is also calling on the Metro Vancouver board to cancel the Amsterdam trip.
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“It looks absolutely awful,” Fontaine said.
“I can tell you that since this became public, there have been a number of members from the public who have said to me that this trip needs to be cancelled.”
Last fall, Harvie spent more than $17,000 in airfare alone for a conference in Brisbane, Australia.
A few months later, he claimed more than $2,100 for a flight to Asia, plus $1,300 for accommodation and per diems.
There is also a bill for nearly $1,300 for accommodation in Victoria.
For the Amsterdam trip, the airfare is $5,300 alone.
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