When news
broke of City Council’s decision to award the IceCaps a subsidy of $700,000
over two years, in a private meeting no less, I waited for the key words which
might help explain what gave rise to the decision.
Councillor Galgay
supported the measure, spoke at length, but said little. Next day, as social
media went viral, in a local context, Councillor Art Puddester acknowledged he
was the one who leaked the information and that he had voted in favour. He explained why he had broken the protocol of ‘private’ Council Meetings but did not address the merits of Danny Williams’ demand.
Finally,
Deputy Mayor Ron Ellsworth, noting the need to respond to widespread public rebuke, acknowledged he had voted against the subsidy and stated:
I just felt we never had enough
financial information from the IceCaps, with regards to looking at their
financial statements…looking at what the impact of the million and half dollars
would have on them and their bottom line. Those are the things I would like to
have at the table to make a decision.
Ron Ellsworth confirmed what I had suspected. The IceCaps did not open its
books to Council in order to justify an award of $700,000!
