Spending Tax Dollars in the Crowsnest Pass

On October 21st council had a discussion regarding the policy of sending members of council to out of province conventions. (Specifically the FCM convention) At a previous meeting a request was made by council to bring back the costs of attending conventions.

The following includes; costs of rooms, meals, mileage, registration etc basically everything except the daily reimbursement that councilors receive for attending conventions. ($160 per day per council member)

2005---$17374
2006---$18141
2007---$33028
2008---$19269 (Not a complete total yet because there is one more convention in November)

If we continue our present practice these costs will climb because we are now a member of the AAMDC which we were not involved with during the years 2005-2007.

The numbers above total $87,812 the question that needs to be asked here does the taxpayer receive value for this expenditure?

There is no question that at the conventions there are indeed the opportunities to meet with "the right" people and discuss issues important to the Crowsnest Pass.

There is no question that at these conventions there are indeed the opportunities to attend informative sessions that further educate councilors.

The question should always be when you are spending other people's money is there a cheaper way to do it? Does all of council need to go? can two or three members of council meet "the right" people? can two or three members of council attend training sessions and report back to the rest of council?

The way its been done in the past is history now, moving forward are there better ways to do this? These are questions that need to be addressed?