Ottawa to trim councillor trips

The City of Ottawa is going to be sending fewer representatives to out-of-town conferences.

Councillors on the city's financial and economic development committee voted Monday to trim the number of attendees at out-of-town municipal meetings, part of a move toward tightening the purse strings at city hall.

Mayor Jim Watson wanted to trim attendance at this June's Federation of Canadian Municipalities convention in Halifax to just three councillors.

"We all have to tighten our belts," Watson said."The budget is coming up this week and it would send a mixed signal [that] we are trying to show restraint and on the other hand we're sending eight people to Halifax."

Watson was probably remembering the attention in the media two years ago when a large Ottawa delegation flew to a conference in Whistler, B.C.

"It seemed to be half the council," said Coun. Rainer Bloess. "We almost had a quorum in Whistler. It was excessive and I think he's out to curb that excessiveness."

The same goes for August's Association of Municipalities of Ontario get-together in London, where there will be three representatives instead of nine. And just one councillor will fly to Toronto for the Good Roads Conference instead of three.

Those reductions will save $21,000, Watson said.

However, there are signs some councillors are growing impatient with the mayor's austerity measures.

Attending the conferences has opened doors for the city, Coun. Maria McRae said.

"There's a lot of value to the face-time you get with the [government] ministers," McRae said.

By cutting back, said Coun. Diane Deans,the city could miss out on valuable information from other municipalities.

"To me the benefits of attending an FCM conference far outweigh the costs. To me it's penny wise, pound foolish not to attend," she said.

"Our annual dues to belong to the Federation of Canadian Municipalities are more than $100,000. We clearly recognize the importance of the organization and members of council should be there," Deans said.