Two rookie councillors believe there should be a limit on how many members of Calgary city council can go to a Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) conference in Halifax this spring.
Jeff Davison and Jeromy Farkas believe in this difficult economic time city council should lead by example and make every effort to reduce costs.
“They’re great networking opportunities – we learn a lot from our colleagues – but given the economic climate we have right now, is it prudent to send 15 representatives from Calgary to achieve that? Probably not,” said Davison, calling for a smaller number of council members to go to this year’s FCM event in Halifax.
Davison said registration for the FCM is between $845 and $1,180 per person and that doesn’t include airfare or hotel or meals.
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The proposal going to city council on Monday would limit the number of Calgary politicians to five. Davison said Mayor Naheed Nenshi should go, as should council’s representative on the FCM board, Joe Magliocca. Three more spots could be left open to chance.
“Those who are interested in attending, you put your name in the hat and it’s a random draw,” Davison said, adding that to be fair politicians should only get to go to one FCM conference during their term in office.
In the proposal going to city council on Monday, Davison said he wants those that go to make a public presentation to council about the conference.
“It’s not a punishment tool that if you go, you have to present a thirty five-minute presentation to council,” he said. “It’s really more about having a conversation in public about, “What did you talk about there; what are the big things coming up that Calgary should know about?”
The presentation requirement isn’t new. In 2006, under former mayor Dave Bronconnier, a similar requirement was made of council members, but there were no restrictions on how many municipal politicians could attend.
The FCM conference will take place in Halifax from May 31 to June 3. If history is any indication, more councillors sign up for the FCM conferences when the meetings are held in cities that are more of a tourist destination.
In 2011, the last time the FCM was in Halifax, 11 members of Calgary city council attended. In 2005, fourteen of fifteen members went to St. John’s, Newfoundland.
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