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Diane Deans took a $9,000, taxpayer-funded trip to South Africa in 2012 when she was vice-chair of a provincial housing organization, newly released documents reveal.
The Gloucester-Southgate councillor was serving on the board of Housing Services Corporation, a little-known government-funded company that supplies insurance, investment services and bulk deals on natural gas to Ontario’s social housing providers.
Deans and another board member travelled to Cape Town, South Africa, to attend a four-day conference organized by the Southern African Housing Foundation. The foundation’s website says it organizes events designed to bring housing professionals together to support the development of sustainable housing communities in Africa.
HSC invoices, released to the opposition Progressive Conservatives through an access-to-information request and shared with reporters on Monday, show that the organization paid more than $6,100 in round-trip airfare and insurance for Deans, who flew first class from Toronto.
The organization paid an additional $2,975 for a 7-night, 8-day stay in Cape Town.
Deans was away from Sept. 7 to 24, but says she covered the costs of the first part of her trip. HSC paid for her flight and accommodations in Cape Town during and after the conference.
“The HSC did not pay for me to be a tourist in South Africa,” she said Monday. “I paid for that.”
According to Deans, HSC officials approved the estimated cost of her expenses before the trip — including the $5,596 in airfare. “It was approved in accordance with the policy that was in place,” she said.
Travel costs for the second HSC board member totalled $4,984, including $2,200 for a round-trip flight from Toronto and $2,784 for accommodation, mileage and conference fees.
Deans said going to South Africa was a “rare opportunity” to represent the organization on an international stage. As an invited guest, she said she spoke about social housing in Canada and reflected on the City of Ottawa’s experience. She also used some of her time in Cape Town to discuss housing with local elected officials.
“I’ve been on council 21 years and I haven’t had very many trips. This was a very rare one to have an opportunity to speak in another country on something I am passionate about,” she said.
The PCs have been hammering the Liberal government for months on the HSC.
Municipal Affairs and Housing critic Ernie Hardeman raised the issue again on Monday, asking the government why the HSC “paid a board member to go on a luxury eight-day/seven-night sightseeing trip with a private driver, winery tours, whale-watching, a visit to a nature reserve and meals at award-winning restaurants in Cape Town.” He was referring to Deans.
But Deans says she didn’t take advantage of these excursions, which were included in her accommodation package, because she was too busy attending the conference.
The Tories say the HSC is a spending mess whose senior people indulge in overseas trips and lavish dinners rather than focusing on the company’s core business.
Hardeman introduced a bill in the spring that would let social-housing agencies opt out of using HSC services they’ve been legally required to buy from it since the Mike Harris government created it 15 years ago.
Deans, who quit the board earlier this year, has said the HSC actually does a decent job for social-housing agencies such as Ottawa Community Housing, but she agrees with the Tories that the Housing Services Corp.’s top managers, such as chief executive Howie Wong, rake in lots of money to run a small operation whose business is not that complicated.
She was frustrated by the board’s inability to rein in managers who seem to do what they want, when they want.
“The problem has been behind the scenes — the stuff that doesn’t even come to the board,” Deans told the Citizen in March.
In the same interview, she admitted she had negligible notes or other paperwork from her decade on the HSC board because board members were apparently told it was a “best practice” for them not to keep their materials.
Still, Deans says “sector partners” have raised few concerns about the value provided by HSC and its commitment to providing access to safe and affordable housing, develop programs that will garner significant savings for municipalities, and provide insurance for high risk providers.
In a statement, the HSC noted the expenses in question were approved by Wong’s predecessor.
But business class air and rail travel is no longer permitted and out-of-province travel for board members must now be approved by both Wong and the board chair.
Stéphane Giguère, the CEO of Ottawa Community Housing, currently sits on HSC’s board.
mpearson@ottawacitizen.com
twitter.com/mpearson78
查看原文...
The Gloucester-Southgate councillor was serving on the board of Housing Services Corporation, a little-known government-funded company that supplies insurance, investment services and bulk deals on natural gas to Ontario’s social housing providers.
Deans and another board member travelled to Cape Town, South Africa, to attend a four-day conference organized by the Southern African Housing Foundation. The foundation’s website says it organizes events designed to bring housing professionals together to support the development of sustainable housing communities in Africa.
HSC invoices, released to the opposition Progressive Conservatives through an access-to-information request and shared with reporters on Monday, show that the organization paid more than $6,100 in round-trip airfare and insurance for Deans, who flew first class from Toronto.
The organization paid an additional $2,975 for a 7-night, 8-day stay in Cape Town.
Deans was away from Sept. 7 to 24, but says she covered the costs of the first part of her trip. HSC paid for her flight and accommodations in Cape Town during and after the conference.
“The HSC did not pay for me to be a tourist in South Africa,” she said Monday. “I paid for that.”
According to Deans, HSC officials approved the estimated cost of her expenses before the trip — including the $5,596 in airfare. “It was approved in accordance with the policy that was in place,” she said.
Travel costs for the second HSC board member totalled $4,984, including $2,200 for a round-trip flight from Toronto and $2,784 for accommodation, mileage and conference fees.
Deans said going to South Africa was a “rare opportunity” to represent the organization on an international stage. As an invited guest, she said she spoke about social housing in Canada and reflected on the City of Ottawa’s experience. She also used some of her time in Cape Town to discuss housing with local elected officials.
“I’ve been on council 21 years and I haven’t had very many trips. This was a very rare one to have an opportunity to speak in another country on something I am passionate about,” she said.
The PCs have been hammering the Liberal government for months on the HSC.
Municipal Affairs and Housing critic Ernie Hardeman raised the issue again on Monday, asking the government why the HSC “paid a board member to go on a luxury eight-day/seven-night sightseeing trip with a private driver, winery tours, whale-watching, a visit to a nature reserve and meals at award-winning restaurants in Cape Town.” He was referring to Deans.
But Deans says she didn’t take advantage of these excursions, which were included in her accommodation package, because she was too busy attending the conference.
The Tories say the HSC is a spending mess whose senior people indulge in overseas trips and lavish dinners rather than focusing on the company’s core business.
Hardeman introduced a bill in the spring that would let social-housing agencies opt out of using HSC services they’ve been legally required to buy from it since the Mike Harris government created it 15 years ago.
Deans, who quit the board earlier this year, has said the HSC actually does a decent job for social-housing agencies such as Ottawa Community Housing, but she agrees with the Tories that the Housing Services Corp.’s top managers, such as chief executive Howie Wong, rake in lots of money to run a small operation whose business is not that complicated.
She was frustrated by the board’s inability to rein in managers who seem to do what they want, when they want.
“The problem has been behind the scenes — the stuff that doesn’t even come to the board,” Deans told the Citizen in March.
In the same interview, she admitted she had negligible notes or other paperwork from her decade on the HSC board because board members were apparently told it was a “best practice” for them not to keep their materials.
Still, Deans says “sector partners” have raised few concerns about the value provided by HSC and its commitment to providing access to safe and affordable housing, develop programs that will garner significant savings for municipalities, and provide insurance for high risk providers.
In a statement, the HSC noted the expenses in question were approved by Wong’s predecessor.
But business class air and rail travel is no longer permitted and out-of-province travel for board members must now be approved by both Wong and the board chair.
Stéphane Giguère, the CEO of Ottawa Community Housing, currently sits on HSC’s board.
mpearson@ottawacitizen.com
twitter.com/mpearson78
查看原文...
