Brampton taxpayers shouldered more than $5K to fly Rod Power and a City staffer to attend a World Culture Festival

Accountability under Patrick Brown’s leadership has been a frequently raised topic during the municipal election campaign. Despite his absence from a gathering of mayoral candidates a week ago, those in attendance signed a pledge to dramatically improve transparency and accountability inside City Hall.

One of the many issues residents have raised since Brown became mayor is the lavish spending on frequent foreign trips by the city’s council members and senior staff.

As part of The Pointer’s freedom of information investigation that yielded hundreds of pages of documents detailing trips this council term to places like Tokyo, Manila, Portugal, parts of the Middle East, other countries in Europe, India, Taiwan, numerous American destinations and other parts of the world—with little transparency and no meaningful benefits to the Brampton taxpayers who paid for all the lavish travel—we looked at a trip by Councillor Rod Power and one City Hall employee to Washington D.C. in September 2023.

Clare Barnett, director of economic development at the City of Brampton, accompanied Councillor Power to “The Art of Living World Cultural Festival.” 

The three-day trip was framed as an economic opportunity through festival attendance and meetings with finance officials and business representatives, with a mission to attract investments to Brampton.

According to the daily itinerary, on September 28, 2023, the Brampton delegation met with Robert Capecchi, the policy officer at the trade and investment office in Washington, at 2 p.m. Later that day, after 4 p.m., they met with Andrea Clements, the senior trade commissioner at the Embassy of Canada.

It's unclear who they met with and where on September 29, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., and then from 3 p.m. onwards till the start of the festival at 6 p.m. the same day, as the information was redacted by City of Brampton staff before the travel documents requested by The Pointer were provided under FOI laws.

The Pointer sent questions to the City’s media relations department, seeking clarification on why meeting information and locations were redacted, and who approved the removal of the information for a taxpayer-funded trip.

There was no response.

The information does include a scheduled meeting on September 29, 2023, with Sara Adams, Washington’s director of business attraction and investment at the office of the deputy mayor for planning and economic development, and Jamie Scott, deputy director of business development, at 2 p.m.

Information for a City of Brampton trip to Washington, D.C. was redacted from documents City of Brampton staff were required to provide under freedom of information laws. (City of Brampton) 

The FOI records show the overall cost of the trip by Councillor Power and one City employee was approximately $5,244 CAD, including $2,162 for their airfare and $1,928 (Canadian dollars using the exchange rate at the time) for their hotel accommodation.

The return Air Canada flight for both officials was booked from Toronto to Washington D.C.

According to the FOI documents, the Hilton Hotels and Resorts was booked twice under the name Clare Barnett, with one receipt dated September 29 showing that two guest rooms were booked at a price of $895 USD in total.

There is no hotel receipt with Councillor Power’s name. He did not respond to questions.

The second receipt for the hotel, with only Barnett’s name on it, was for a booking on September 28 for a one-night stay costing $528 USD.

City staff did not explain why the hotel stay was booked twice.

The timing of the hotel bookings is also confusing. One booking is for a one-night stay with one room starting on September 28. The other booking is for a two-night stay with two rooms starting on September 29, at the same Hilton hotel.

The hotel receipts show two bookings were made under the name of Clare Barnett, Brampton’s director of economic development. From the receipts, it is unclear what booking was made for Brampton Councillor Rod Power. (City of Brampton)

While in Washington, the pair enjoyed lavish meals, including one receipt for $87 USD at The Capital Grille and two separate charges at Lenfant Grill, for $84 USD and $87 USD, on September 28, 2023.

The travel documents show an $87 (USD) charge at The Capital Grille. (City of Brampton)

The receipts also include additional spending on food purchases and coffees at different Starbucks locations and airport cafes; for instance, $11.16 USD ($15.17 CAD) for a Cranberry Muffin and a medium Caffe Latte at Dulles International Airport on October 1.

Another $19.22 USD ($26.10 CAD) was spent on a breakfast (two avocado toasts, a toasted bagel, and a small latte) at Union Kitchen, Eckington, Washington; $19.48 CAD on breakfast (bacon egg bites, one latte, and a water bottle) at a Starbucks location at Pearson International Airport in the GTA on September 28; and $17.55 USD (CAD $23.83) on a food and drink purchase at Starbucks Hilton, DC, Washington, on September 29.

Receipts obtained through FOI show repeated food and beverage expenses charged to Brampton taxpayers by city officials during a 2023 Washington trip. (City of Brampton)

In addition to the spending on food by Brampton officials, the FOI records also show that hundreds of dollars were covered by taxpayers for Uber and taxi charges.

• $139.45 CAD for an Uber trip associated with Councillor Power, from the hotel in Washington to the airport on October 1.

• $134.56 spent on an Uber trip by Councillor Power.
• $53 for Aerofleet Cab service in Mississauga on October 1, 2023.
• $60.46 USD ($82.07 CAD) for an Uber booked by Barnett on October 1.

During the three-day trip, the pair billed Brampton taxpayers $745.85 in Uber and taxi charges.

The Pointer asked Councillor Power and City staff to explain what concrete outcomes resulted directly from the participation in the World Culture Festival in Washington for Brampton; specifically, if any meaningful investments and business openings in Brampton, or any creation of new jobs, resulted from the trip. 

There was no response. 

The lavish council travel followed by no transparency is part of a pattern under Patrick Brown, whose own expense spending has raised red flags this term.

The Pointer documented Councillor Gurpartap Singh Toor’s October 2023 trip to Detroit, Michigan, as well as international travel by Councillors Rowena Santos and Paul Vicente.

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