Masters’ travel to France marks third overseas trip in a year

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Regina Mayor Sandra Masters has secured endorsement from city council to travel to France this summer for an 80th anniversary D-Day celebration.

Mayors of the towns of Thue et Mue and Brettevillel-’Orgueilleuse extended the invitation to Masters and the Royal Regina Rifles to attend an event on June 7.

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Out of country travel for city business must seek approval from city council, per city bylaws.

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Council agreed in a short meeting on Wednesday, with a 5-4 passing vote. Councillors Dan LeBlanc (Ward 6), Shanon Zachidniak (Ward 8), Lori Bresciani (Ward 4) and Terina Nelson (Ward 7) were against, and Cheryl Stadnichuk (Ward 1) and Bob Hawkins (Ward 2) were absent.

The Regina Rifles served as a part of the 7th Infantry Brigade, 3rd Canadian Infantry Division of the Canadian Armed Forces, who stormed Juno Beach in 1944.

Celebrations will include a ball, legacy tour with the Rifles, and the unveiling of a bronze statue in honour of the regiment and their part in the liberation of both French towns from Nazi forces.

“I think honouring our veterans is incredibly important,” said Masters after Wednesday’s meeting. “That is one of the most noble things we can do, and remembering history is one of the smartest things we can do.”

In the meeting, Zachidniak questioned if international appearances were the best use of city dollars, “at a time when folks are struggling to make ends meet.”

“I think we need to set an example by reining in our expenses,” she argued.

Administration travel budgets were reduced by 25 per cent in 2023 in a cost-cutting measure after council asked for $2.9 million be cut after-the-fact to achieve a lower mill rate.

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City staff also warned repeatedly in the 2024 budget book that capital spending plans this year will leave the general reserve fund $6 million below the advised $25-million minimum.

Masters said she is “more than prepared to share in the cost” of this trip from her travel budget, which caps at $32,000 in 2024. Expenses to go to France are projected to be $6,000.

This would mean the city won’t be shelling out “additional money outside approved budgets already in place,” she suggested.

The trip marks the mayor’s third overseas trip in a span of 10 months. Masters and Coun. John Findura (Ward 5) travelled to Poland on a provincial trade mission at the end of September.

Masters also flew to Dubai in early December with a provincial delegation representing Saskatchewan at the United Nations’ climate conference, COP 28.

Economic Development Regina (EDR) foot the bill for both trips, according to city reports and EDR CEO Chris Lane.

CBC Saskatchewan later revealed city manager Niki Anderson accompanied Masters to Dubai, though her inclusion was not mentioned publicly by any city officials prior to the trip.

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The cost was budgeted at $25,000 to $35,000, with a final receipt of $29,359 reported by CBC.

Mayor’s travel spending jumped in 2022

Masters claimed a total of $2,603 in travel expenses in 2021 and $25,699 in 2022, a figure more than double any Regina mayor had spent on travel in the last decade.

Asked to explain the significant year-to-year jump, the mayor simply said “100 per cent COVID.”

“There were no in person events in 2021” and lingering travel restrictions, she said.

Public accounts for 2023 are not yet available, nor does 2022’s report detail the mayor’s destinations.

Always on the itinerary is the annual Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association conference, Federation of Canadian Municipalities’ convention and Big City Mayors’ Caucus meeting, and the Grey Cup; all were hosted in Regina in 2022.

Saskatoon’s mayor Charlie Clark, in contrast, spent $7,317 on travel in 2022. Clark has surpassed Regina mayors’ travel expenses twice in his eight years, with $10,657 in 2017 and $11,563 in 2019.

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Previous Saskatoon mayor Don Atchison’s travel expenses are more comparable to Masters’ expenses in 2022, reported at $22,133 in 2016, $33,355 in 2017, $28,164 in 2014 and $27,220 in 2013.

Masters’ predecessor, Michael Fougere, also spent significantly less on travel during his tenure from 2012 to 2020.

The most expensed by Fougere was $9,169 in 2015, the least in 2020 at $1,137, which was during the height of pandemic restrictions. His average travel was in the range of $6,000 per year.

Cities’ political spending questioned

City council’s discussion about travel spending took place the same day an analysis of fiscal data from Elections Canada by the Investigative Journalism Foundation and CTV News was released. The report showed the Saskatchewan Party has received $46,000 in donations from municipalities, including Regina, since its inception in 2006.

Masters said the “$8,500 from the City of Regina public account spent over the course of 15 years” are not political donations but largely for event tickets, like to the Premier’s Dinner and Saskatchewan NDP leader’s dinner, Masters said Wednesday.

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“This is about attending suppers and council members do it. Mayors do it,” said Masters.

She said she attends both parties’ events, reported in fiscal records as part of her budget, “to network with community members, with business members, with political members of both parties” for city interests.

Fougere did the same during his regime, attending the Premier’s Dinner every year save for 2014 and 2017. He did not attend any of the NDP’s equivalent events on the city’s dime. Pat Fiacco went to both in 2011.

“Our office has no record of Mayor Clark attending either of those functions as a delegate for the City during his time as Mayor,” said an emailed statement from Clark’s office provided to the Leader-Post on Thursday.

Asked if it was appropriate to use taxpayer money on trips and events, Masters said she would not comment “philosophically” but that “from an operational standpoint,” the intention is “probably reasonable.”

“I would think that the residents of a municipality would understand an investment” for elected city officials to be able to “advocate and lobby and make the case for your city,” she said.

“I think the benefit far exceeds cost, because everything is done based on relationships.”

lkurz@postmedia.com

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