Former Mayor Sam Sullivan aimed to bring a little attention to Vancouver as the next Olympic city back in 2008. But what were the tangible benefits of the trip for Vancouver taxpayers? To this day, that is a tough question to answer.
As has now hit the media, Mayor Gregor Robertson will lead an eco-business mission to China next week with 22 local business involved in environmental technologies, renewable energies, new media & gaming, green building products, and tourism and transportation.
China is a mecca for this business stream because of the fact that the country has set aggressive targets for low-carbon economic development, making the offerings of these Vancouver companies ideal to fill a particular niche.
A number of meetings have been set with representatives from the private sector, government, as well as educational and non-governmental bodies in order to showcase the best that our city has to offer.
Those participating were selected through a strict set of criteria, including actively seeking out access to the Chinese market, having adequate resources and capacity to thrive in the Chinese market, and producing technology that is fully developed and export-ready.
The trip is being organized in collaboration with the Vancouver Economic Development Commission, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai, the British Columbia Trade and Investment Representative Office, and the Canadian Consulate also in Shanghai. It’s this kind of joint effort that allows BC companies being able to gain access to China with identified and interested business contacts.
Oh, and the delegation that is participating in the Vancouver Green Capital Business mission are responsible for their own expenses for the trip, including flights, hotel acoomodations and transportation and food outside of the already set schedule.
Now, contrast this with former Mayor Sam Sullivan’s trip to China in the dying days of his term in office, and you will see that the word junket is much more appropriate for the former rather than the latter.
I requested some specific information about Sullivan’s trip from City Hall, and here is what I received.
Between August 19 and September 8, 2008, Sullivan and staff traveled to Beijing for the Paralympic Games.
Sam Sullivan spent a total of $36,097.37 to attend.
But wait, you are saying…that is less than the $45,000 that the city is putting up for Robertson and staff to attend next week’s trip.
True, except for one small detail. Sullivan’s trip had no business focus, and no private sector money leveraged for his trips
Were any deals or agreements signed to assist Vancouver in any way? No.
Was their any kind of governmental or business focus for the trip? No.
Like I said when it came to the Linda Oglov contract with City Hall, “I don’t care how much…AS LONG AS the results are assessed on one key criteria: Return On Investment.”
In essence, Sam’s attendance as an Olympic ambassador, which is what his office at the time promoted the purpose of the trip as, was little more than an excursion for a guy that had been stabbed in the back by his own party, was not going to be running again for Mayor, and didn’t give a damn about how the jaunt would be perceived.
You’d think he could have slipped in some economic development announcements or at the very least some meetings. But no, he was too preoccupied…with “personal time”, as an example, between August 28 and September 2.
Now in this climate of lazy local journalism and sensationalism over substance, one wonders what Robertson would have had to endure upon returning to Vancouver if it was discovered that he took 4-5 days off for personal time.
Speaking of which, I am going to try and be back later in the day with a rant about Bob Mackin’s ridiculous article from yesterday and his policy (or lack thereof) when it comes to his “sources“.
