Muhammad Hamza, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter & Joel Wittnebel, The Pointer

Travel documents, including receipts and itineraries, obtained by The Pointer under freedom of information requests have exposed a troubling pattern at the City of Brampton under Mayor Patrick Brown. Expensive flights and hotels, questionable spending on food, drinks and transportation, all in the name of so-called economic development, have become the norm in Brampton. 

The Pointer has unearthed documents relating to trips to Taiwan, Brazil, India, Pakistan, Germany, Portugal and the United States, without finding any tangible benefit—business openings, jobs created, investments—from these lavish trips on the taxpayers’ dime. 

Typically, the responsibility for securing foreign investment and building global economic partnerships falls to provincial and federal governments, while local municipalities occasionally participate in much smaller scale trade missions. 

The Pointer is detailing the use of taxpayer dollars on each of these trips. 

TOKYO AND MANILA 2024

The 2024 travel to Tokyo, Japan, and Manila, Philippines, included Brown’s key council ally, Rowena Santos, along with two City staffers, Jasmine Danial, Brampton’s Coordinator of Innovation and Technology, and Clare Barnett, Director of the Economic Development Office.

The week-long trip, described as Brampton’s “first all-women mission”, took place from January 15 to 22, 2024, with a focus on “investment attraction in innovation and technology, business retention and expansion, and promotion of Brampton’s Innovation District,” according to the City’s Economic Development Office’s website. 

Getting the two staffers there and back cost $6,952.01 in flights and transfers; taxpayers covered $5,255.39 for hotel stays in Tokyo and Manila; $955.41 for food and drink; $971.41 in transportation costs while in the two countries; $517.47 in pre-trip medical expenses; and $6,236 for what an invoice simply lists as “travel expenses”. 

In total, the trip cost $20,470.68, according to the documentation that was provided under The Pointer’s FOI request. 

The figure, however, might not be accurate, due to the difficulty in deciphering the City of Brampton records provided by FOI staff. Six receipts included in the package from the City of Brampton are unreadable due to poor image quality. Requests by The Pointer for higher resolution images were ignored. 

Beyond the two City employees, others on the trip whose names appear in the FOI documents, including Councillor Santos, claimed to have covered the expenses themself.

“I personally paid for my flights and accommodations for this trip,” she told The Pointer in an email, responding to questions.

She failed to explain if she fully covered these expenses or if any other person or entity financed her travel or contributed to the costs.

She did not explain why she would pay for the trip herself when it was an official City of Brampton trade mission, and why her expenses would not have been covered the same way as other staff members.

The lack of transparency makes it difficult to determine the true cost of the trip to Brampton taxpayers. 

It has left some residents shaking their head. 

“Everything has to be transparent, and they have to be accountable for every dollar they spend. It’s not their personal fund. It’s taxpayers’ money. It makes me very angry to think that they have not been and are not accountable for what they do as public servants, as elected servants,” Myrna Adams, a long-time Brampton resident, told The Pointer. “When you have a job, whether you’re an elected official or you’re a person that is employed by a corporation, nonprofit, or whatever, you have to be accountable for all of your actions. That’s a prerequisite of actually having and holding on to that particular position or job.”

In addition to the poor record-keeping for costs, it is also difficult to determine exactly what Santos and the Brampton staff members were doing during their time overseas. 

Portions of the itineraries have been heavily redacted, including the names of individuals and organizations the trio were meeting with. For example, of the 17 hours and 45 minutes of meetings outlined in the itinerary between January 13 and 18 when the group was in Japan, the details of meetings accounting for 7.5 hours are redacted: it’s not clear who the councillor and staff met with or why they were meeting with them. 

In the non-redacted sections, it shows the group visited Canon’s global headquarters in Tokyo; met with the mayor of the City of Ota (for 15 minutes); the mayor of Suginami City (2 hours); Ontario’s Investment and Trade Office (for 30 minutes); the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO); the Japan Chamber of Commerce (for 30 minutes), and the QBO Innovation Hub in Manila.

According to the index of records provided along with the trove of travel documents as part of the FOI package, City officials claim sections of the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (MFIPPA) allow them to keep this information from the public, in particular Sections 10 and 11 which deal with third-party information and “economic and other interests”. 

Section 10 allows for information to be withheld that “reveals a trade secret or scientific, technical, commercial, financial or labour relations information supplied in confidence” and “could reasonably be expected to prejudice significantly the competitive position or interfere significantly with the contractual or other negotiations of a person group, group of persons or organization”. 

Section 11 includes similar language about trade secrets, and information “that belongs to an institution and has monetary value or potential monetary value”. 

It’s not clear how basic travel itinerary information for a city councillor and two staff members falls into these categories. 

The Pointer reached out to the City’s media relations team for further explanation; no response was received.

Along with the flights, hotels, food and drink in Japan, Brampton taxpayers also paid more than $6,000 to a local travel agency. According to the records, the City was invoiced 679,250 JPY (Japanese Yen) on January 11, 2024, approximately $6,236. The invoice is for “Travel expenses”. It references an “attached quotation”, but none is included in the documents provided by the City. There is no indication of what expenses this invoice is referencing.

The Brampton delegation also travelled to Manila during the trip, but no official itinerary for this leg of the journey was shared by the City, despite certain details of the trip being made public immediately after the trio returned to Brampton. 

Brampton’s official business website, “Invest Brampton”, describes how the group travelled to various cities in the Philippines and met with city officials in Manila, Makati, Quezon and Marikina.

Without an official itinerary, it’s unknown what Santos — who is Filipino — and the two Brampton staff members did between January 18 and 22 while in the country or who they met with. Receipts show they stayed at the Westin Manilla; the total cost for the hotel was $780.30 for Danial, who stayed three nights; and $1,959.51 for Barnett who stayed for four. 

Based on a photograph posted by Invest Brampton, they met with Numero G. Lim, a local councillor in Manila and Chairman of International Relations. 

“It was a pleasure to welcome the City of Brampton to Manila City Hall and greet them on behalf of Mayor ‘Honey’ Lacuna-Pagan. A special visit from Regional Councillor Rowena Santos, the first Filipina elected to Brampton’s City Council, on an economic development mission to launch our connections,” Lim is quoted as saying in the Invest Brampton press release.

The only other details provided about this portion of the trip are also from the press release which details how Brampton and Marikina are now “focusing on advancing an economic development relationship” and at some point while there, “In partnership with BHive, Brampton hosted an event for international startups interested in expanding to Brampton to access the North American market.”

The CEO of Brampton BHive, Vikram Khurana, was also on the trip. While he is not mentioned in any of the City’s official itineraries, his name appears on the hotel receipts for the Westin in Manila. 

Efforts to reach Khurana directly were not successful. Questions sent to email addresses associated with him were instead answered by Kaj Thiru, the Chief Financial Officer of the Toronto Business Development Centre (TBDC) where Khurana is the Chairman. 

According to Thiru, Khurana was “not part of the formal delegation”. 

“The City was travelling there for investment attraction and Vikram Khurana attended select meeting (sic) with the City,” he claimed in an email response. 

Thiru offered conflicting accounts of who paid for Khurana’s travel.

In a response on November 19, he claimed, “As far as I understand, the City staff paid for their own rooms, as did he.” 

City staff did not pay for their own rooms. 

He continued: “The City of Brampton did not pay for his travel costs. My understanding is that (he) was there as a representative of the Toronto Business Development Centre.”

But in a follow-up request, Thiru claimed, “All of Mr. Khuranna’s expenses were paid using TBDC funds.”

In the same email, he also wrote: “We can confirm that Mr. Khurana paid for his accommodation and travel expenses.”

The Pointer requested documentation from Thiru to show how Khurana’s travel costs were paid. None was provided. After several follow-ups, Thiru said “we have no further comments.”

The Pointer also sent questions to the City of Brampton about Khurana’s role on the trip, and who covered his expenses. No response was received. 

One of the receipts for the Westin Manilla has costs associated with the four-night stay redacted, with the City attaching a note that explains they were “paid personally”. The City did not make it clear whether these charges were attributed to Santos, who also claimed to pay for the trip herself, or Khurana, whose name appears on the receipt. 

Another Westin Manila receipt, this one for Danial, also included Khurana’s name, but there are no redactions.

It’s one of many issues with the City’s record-keeping around the Manila leg of the trip. 

The Pointer asked Brampton staff why no official itinerary was shared as part of the request, when clearly meetings had been arranged well in advance—indicated by the pre-printed banner hanging in the photo posted by Invest Brampton. No response was received. 

Refusing to share requested information that does not fall under one of the listed exemptions under the MFIPPA, is illegal. 

The invoices show that Barnett traveled via Air Canada; from Toronto to Tokyo on January 12 and then a flight to Manila on January 18. Barnett then flew back to Tokyo’s Narita Airport to catch her return flight to Toronto. But her Canada-bound flight was taking off from Haneda Airport. 

The City booked a vehicle through “Luxury Fleet” to make the approximately 56 minute drive between the airports. It cost Brampton taxpayers $417. 

Inclusive of this transfer, and the inflight streaming pass ($34.75), the costs associated with Barnett’s flights came to $3,811.75.

For Danial, the total cost of air travel reached $3,140.26, which is inclusive of her flights with Air Canada from Toronto to Tokyo, which cost $1,787.86 and the trip to the Philippines with All Nippon Airways, which cost Brampton taxpayers $1,331.70.       

Hotel stays cost taxpayers $5,255.39. 

Five nights in Tokyo for Barnett and Danial came to $2,515.58. Danial stayed three nights in Manila at a cost of $780.30. Barnett stayed four nights, and her receipt included a second room, costing $1,951.51 total. It’s not clear who stayed in the other room. Some of the cost is indicated as being covered personally, but it’s not clear by whom. 

While in Tokyo, the group enjoyed lavish meals at the hotel restaurants, including two breakfasts for $97.52 and $98.53 in the Garden Lounge and $105.64 at Satsuki, one of the New Otani’s “fine dining” options. 

Councillor Santos celebrated the trip as a major economic breakthrough for Brampton on her official website. Invest Brampton echoed the tour’s success with glowing mentions of meetings, tours and networking events. What’s missing is any evidence of substantial economic returns for the city, such as companies from Japan or the Philippines launching a project in Brampton, creating jobs or any measurable investment.

Some residents question if there have been any benefits to the taxpayers who paid for the trip. 

“When they go on these trips, they’re supposed to come back either with something that is tangible, that we’re going to be able to see within a very short period of time…what has been the result of any one of those trips,” Myrna Adams, the long-time Brampton resident, says. “In essence, there has been no outcome from these trips, none that we’re aware of.”

The City of Brampton did not answer numerous requests for clarification regarding the expense documents. 

Instead, Kennisha Petgrave, the City’s Senior Advisor, Public Relations Strategic Communications, Tourism and Events, shared a prepared statement that provided a general definition of international trade missions: Brampton’s “long standing international engagement” has attracted companies that “continue to grow their operations in the city.” She pointed to Sun Pharma, Albea Packaging, Horstman and Canon. It’s unclear if the presence of these companies in the city was in any way due to a foreign trade mission by council members or staff. 

Email: muhammad.hamza@thepointer.com

Email: joel.wittnebel@thepointer.com

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