Metro Vancouver has been caught with their hands in the cookie jar yet again.
But this time, it is not our municipal politicians.
It has been reported by other media outlets that Invest Vancouver, which is a branch of Metro Vancouver, had one staff member at a Web Summit in Lisbon, Portugal.
A video has been posted online of their experiences – none work related I might add – which begs the question how much this holiday disguised as a “work-related” trip will cost us, the taxpayers.
This is not the first time that Metro has been under fire for its spending on travel, lavish parties at conferences and exorbitant pay increases for its top bureaucrats.
The past few months, the Optimist, through our Glacier Media team of journalists, as well as other media, have uncovered how Metro spent more than $64,000 on fancy food and liquor for their guests during a conference in Toronto.
There has also been several mayors and staffers attending other oversees conferences coming back with very questionable travel bills.
Board chair and Burnaby Mayor Mike Hurley ordered a review of all these travel expenses, but the free ride continues - all on your dime.
And all of this spending comes when taxpayers are being hit with a huge tax increase to pay for the balloning costs of the new North Shore Wastewater Treatment plant.
Metro seems to think there is a bottomless pit of money that it can spend however it sees fit, with no consequences.
Spending is out of control, and no one connected to Metro Vancouver seems to give a damn.
This gravy train must be stopped.
