Metro Vancouver delegates to a national conference for municipalities threw a pricey networking event at a Toronto hotel last year, Global News has learned.
Through a Freedom of Information request, Global News has obtained receipts connected to the Federation of Canadian Municipalities annual conference.
During the conference, Metro Vancouver hosted the event which included an open bar and fancy food.
Among the purchases were $2,000 worth of shrimp tempura, $1,800 of smoked salmon with dill cream and walnut bread, more than $5,200 of cheese and charcuterie stations, along with a ‘Little Italy’ station at $4,200.
The bill also included about $2,400 in domestic beer, $3,000 in imported beer, $4,300 in white wine and $3,500 in red wine.
The total bill for food and alcohol was $64.620.94
New Westminster Councilor Daniel Fontaine called the expenses jaw-dropping.
“This absolutely speaks to a problem at Metro Vancouver, that their costs are out of control,” he said.
“There is very little oversight in terms of these expenditures.”
This latest revelation comes after questions were raised about how much taxpayer money was spent for attendance at an urban drainage conference in Amsterdam.
“This is exactly why the provincial government needs to step in and reappoint the office of the local government auditor general,” said Canadian Taxpayer Federation B.C. director Carson Binda.
“We’ve seen spending scandal after spending scandal at Metro Vancouver.”
Metro Vancouver says it has been hosting the networking reception for over 10 years, but, as part of ongoing evaluation elected not to host a networking event this year.