Ontario city spent $8K-plus on chauffeur service during trip to London, England

An Ontario city is facing questions after spending thousands on chauffeur services during the latest in a series of overseas trips for its mayor and councillors, which have taken them to places ranging from Dublin and Pakistan to the United States.

New documents obtained by Global News have revealed the City of Brampton spent tens of thousands of dollars on foreign direct investment trips last year.

The city organized a trip to Japan and the Philippines in January 2024, while a separate mission to London, England, was held a few months later in May.

Global News obtained receipts for expenses charged during the two trips using freedom of information laws, although the city did not confirm the total budget or cost for either investment mission.

In both Japan and England, Brampton spent thousands of dollars on drivers for its visiting delegation.

In England, the city spent £4,578 — around $8,400 — on chauffeur service during the four-day trip to London and parts of the Midlands. For Japan, Brampton paid ¥679,250 to a company for “transportation logistics.” That converts to roughly $6,520.

Brampton’s director of economic development said the chauffeur service was “recommended by the British Consulate General-Toronto’s office for safety reasons and for timely delivery of participants.”

A consulate spokesperson, however, said they were “not aware of having provided specific recommendations for transport ” in London, England.

As well as the contracts for drivers in both countries, officials attending the trip also filed expense receipts for local taxis, Ubers and airport limo service.

Brampton said its missions to England, Japan and the Philippines were designed to boost the local economy.

The city said it had met with several British businesses associated with Brampton in London — like Chaiiwala, IR2 Packaging and Horstman; the Japanese trip included “a visit to Canon’s headquarters in Japan” because the camera maker’s Canadian headquarters is located in Brampton.

“Working with stakeholders, the office seeks new and sustainable opportunities for growing International Business ties for the City of Brampton,” the City of Brampton’s economic development head said in a statement about the London trip.

“This investment mission was planned to meet face-to-face with companies in the U.K to discuss opportunities for business expansion and collaboration, market diversification is a key priority of the Economic Development Office.”

A similar statement praising the Japan and Philippines trip was also provided.

Mayor Patrick Brown’s office confirmed he had gone on the London trip with some municipal staff but said the mayor had paid for his own airfare, hotel and personal expenses.

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation, which advocates for more restrained public spending, said the trips shouldn’t have been paid for at all with property taxes, even if Brown had covered his own expenses.

“The whole trip really seems like an inappropriate use of public money,” Gage Haubrich, a representative for the group, said.

“I think it’s very unlikely that the Mayor of Brampton is making a significant impact in bringing companies to Ontario. It looks like they’re just using this as an excuse to go on some sort of vacation, with a couple of meetings sprinkled in.”

The trips are the latest in a series of foreign missions undertaken by the City of Brampton.

As Global News has previously reported, councillors and staff spent more than $60,000 on a trip to Dublin in 2023 and almost $93,000 on a contract to execute a trip to Pakistan.

In another instance, a councillor travelled twice to Dubai in a single year, once to meet with a company that had already agreed a deal with a university in Brampton. Other trips included California and Detroit, in the United States.

The slew of foreign trips for staff and councillors in Brampton comes as the province puts intense pressure on school board trustees for their own travel.

Last week, Education Minister Paul Calandra appointed a supervisor at the Thames Valley District School Board and put the Brant Haldimand Norfolk Catholic District School Board on notice.

The former had been caught up in a controversy about an almost $40,000 trip to the Blue Jays stadium hotel, while the latter went on a trip to Italy, which cost $45,000 in travel expenses and another $100,000 for the purchase of art.

Calandra said the Italy trip, where trustees went to buy art, in particular, was a misuse of public funds.

“I’m a member of provincial parliament, you send me to Ottawa to assess artwork, I can tell you I won’t have a clue,” he said. “That’s not what trustees are supposed to do — parents’ reaction to this was, as it should be, as we all felt, this is not what we spend money for.”

Haubrich, from the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, said he viewed the trips taken by Brampton officials in a similar light — suggesting councillors and city staff aren’t effective international advocates.

“I think if you talk to government official in any major country, they’d have no idea what Brampton is, let alone be able to put it on a map,” he said.

“When you can do it as the (Ontario) trade minister, that’s kind of your whole job, there’s whole parts in there between those two groups to maybe get something done. It’s a fool’s errand to think that the city is going to have a huge impact on this.”

The Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing’s office did not respond to questions from Global News asking if the Ford government approved of Brampton’s foreign direct investment strategy.

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