Chatham-Kent Civic Centre. January 18, 2017. (Photo by Natalia Vega) Chatham-Kent Civic Centre. January 18, 2017. (Photo by Natalia Vega)
Chatham

Councillor Wants More Transparency With Foreign Trips

Chatham-Kent will soon find out whether its past foreign trips actually paid off.

At Monday night's council meeting, Councillor Doug Sulman requested a report regarding the municipality's previous foreign trips and return on investments.

Chatham-Kent administration has been on a number of trips to China over the years, as well as a trip to Peru in 2016 that lead to the municipality signing an agriculture agreement with Peruvian officials.

"You haven't seen a lot of plants open or those kinds of things, but I think it's important that the public understands the facts, not political statements," explains Sulman. "That's why I asked for the reports in 2012 and that's why we should have them now."

Sulman says the municipality needs to be more transparent about these trips.

"I think the public heard a lot about a big fertilizer plant going into Tupperville that was going to come cover thousands of acres. So what's happened to it?" asks Sulman. "The public deserves to know that."

Sulman says there was a lot of trips to China and India with respect to the plant and the taxpayers should be more informed.

He says there also hasn't been an update on the railway that was proposed to support the fertilizer plant.

Chief Administrative Officer Don Shropshire says the report will be coming to a council meeting sometime in June.

"I first brought this forward at least six years ago. I understand that things take a while, but just update us," says Sulman. "I don't want to judge it until I get the information... I think that's the fair way to do it."

Sulman says once council and members of the public hear the report, they will make their decision on whether it's an appropriate investment of time, energy, and tax dollars.

Read More Local Stories