Former Barrie councillor Mike McCann spent $7,452 on his Ward 10 "summer fun party" last June at Tyndale Park, according to documents obtained by BarrieToday through a Freedom of Information (FOI) request.
He was reimbursed $4,870* of that total by taxpayers, according to the city’s 2022 council expense reports.
The two-term Ward 10 councillor, who ran unsuccessfully for mayor last October, spent $4,309 on invitations to the party, $2,144 on bouncing equipment and $1,000 on live music, the FOI documents show.
McCann did not answer e-mail or text messages from BarrieToday asking for comment.
The FOI documents obtained by BarrieToday did not detail how the remainder of the summer fun party costs were paid.
These documents do show McCann paid for the bouncing equipment and the live band. There is an invoice for the invitations — printing, folding, inserting, addressing and postage — but no receipt of payment, although that does not mean McCann did not pay it, just that it's not included in the FOI documents.
McCann was able to expense the summer fun party according to the city’s expense policy for council members. It is listed as an event sponsorship in his third-quarter expenses, filed with the city last year. As per the council expense policy, the clerk and treasurer approve expenses.
Geoffrey Booth, a political science teacher at Georgian College’s Orillia campus, noted that since this expense is permitted, it’s almost a cut-and-dry issue.
“Whether it’s a wise use of public money is another thing altogether,” he said. “To view it another way, think about municipal fireworks displays every Canada Day – ‘feel-good’ community events, or an annual exercise that literally burns up taxpayer dollars.
“To (Barrie’s) particular situation, there’s room for debate here, and in an election year things can take on a very different perspective," Booth added.
The bouncing equipment included an obstacle course and a Ferris wheel bouncer. On the same bill was ballooning, glitter tattoos and a generator, according to the invoice. There was also face-painting and free pizza at the party.
The Ward 10 summer fun party was held June 26, five days before McCann unveiled the Heart Barrie landmark sign at Heritage Park on Canada Day, July 1.
McCann has come under fire for aspects of the sign’s fund-raising details. He raised its $200,000 design and construction cost through private donations, but figures McCann provided to the city show $370,000 was raised, although some of that could be in-kind donations.
McCann has not given a specific accounting of the funds raised beyond the $200,000 — although he released two letters from his Barrie accounting firm saying everything was in order. However, no specifics were provided on money in and money out, as McCann had promised.
The city’s website shows information provided by McCann — 11 donations of $20,000 ($220,000), 13 donations of $10,000 ($130,000) and four donations of $5,000 ($20,000). That totals $370,000, although that figure is not on the city page.
McCann has said some of the donations are in-kind, for media and administration, although exactly what those donations were for, their value and who made them remains unknown.
Barrie’s former city council passed a motion that any money raised on top of the $200,000 for the Heart Barrie sign, where no donation receipts have been issued, be donated to 'save the beavers' and 'save the turtles' programs in the city.
McCann’s “final statement” on the fund-raising financials for the Heart Barrie sign was dated March 1 and received by the city on March 15.
“Any leftover money will be spent on promoting Barrie and other charitable organizations including saving the turtles and beavers,” McCann said in the statement.
But the lack of financial detail provided for the fund-raised Heart Barrie landmark sign from McCann convinced the new council to seek outside legal advice on the implications to the city. By direct motion, and an 11-0 recorded vote, council decided the financial details provided by McCann were insufficient.
The approved motion states that the applicable city policies be amended to define a process for members of council entering into third-party fundraising partnerships, on behalf of the city, to ensure further accountability and transparency.
City legal staff will obtain external legal advice concerning the Heart Barrie landmark sign, including any potential implications and actions that could be undertaken as a result of the lack of financial information provided by McCann for the sign in correspondence received March 15, 2023.
McCann announced July 22, 2022 he was running for Barrie mayor in the October 2022 city election. He received 1,700 of the 31,604 votes cast in that election, or 5.4 per cent, finishing a distant fourth in the race that elected Mayor Alex Nuttall.
*Note: Municipalities receive a rebate on the harmonized sales tax (HST) and are responsible for 1.76 per cent. The amount in the third-quarter 2022 council expense report, on the city’s website, includes non-rebatable HST, while the amount reimbursed to Coun. McCann includes the full amount of HST. Because the city gets a rebate for a portion of the HST, only the net impact on city expenses is reported. So $5,407.88 is reimbursed, divided by 1.13 is $4,785.73 before HST. Then $4,785.73 times 1.0176 = $4,869.97 is the expense to the city with the non-rebatable HST, according to Craig Millar, the city’s chief financial officer.
