On the road -again

There is a business adage that says if you want to make money you have to invest money.
Yet, when some elected public officials spend public money in economic well-being efforts for our communities, they are often pilloried. Naturally, there is no reason why public officials should not be held accountable for spending public money.
Canada's auditor general is enjoined to ensure "public expenditures were for purposes Parliament intended." Failure to adhere to that constitutional rule can lead to political embarrassment. A recent case involved millions of public dollars lavished in a federal cabinet minister's constituency in Muskoka ostensibly for a brief G8 Summit. The auditor general concluded that Parliament had been deceived about the alleged G8 expenditures -they were not for purposes Parliament intended.
The role of an auditor in ensuring that public money is spent legally, effectively and efficiently is absolutely critical to public trust between public officials and taxpayers.
Windsor's Mayor Eddie Francis has travelled abroad in his passionate effort to help Windsor recover from economic decline and to enhance the city's profile.
Ontario's minister of Economic Development and Trade, Sandra Pupatello, has travelled extensively on behalf of Ontario, the City of Windsor and her own constituency seeking to conclude trade deals, improve relations with foreign business and promote locally made and produced products.

Both Mayor Francis and Minister Pupatello recently have been publicly called to account for spending on travel.
In neither instance has it been suggested that mayor or minister have in any manner been less than transparent about their overseas travel nor have they in any manner sought to obscure costs associated with travel.
Overseas travel of the type undertaken by busy public officials is very unlikely to be of the ilk one tends to associate with vacations. I've been there -done that.
I was sitting beside an aircraft tire salesman during a sevenhour flight delay in Singapore one long day when the airline announced that because of delay we'd all receive an extra 50,000 air miles. The salesman groaned, "Big deal. I've already got over 700,000 air miles and I spend so much time flying I'd rather be home with my family." And, for another period in my life I commuted over several months from Windsor to Chicago to Brussels on Thursday nights and returned home on the following Monday.
Short-term overseas travel is exhausting to body and mind yet many leading public officials are engaged in such travel on a regular basis.
Eddie Francis went to South Korea for a few days last year to meet those who eventually established a manufacturing plant in Windsor. Did the mayor see much of the city of Seoul? Not likely. Did he enjoy nightlife and fascinating Korean restaurants? Perhaps a taste but odds are, for busy public officials, too frequently meals are power-meals in hotel rooms or on the road.
Did Sandra Pupatello take time during her visit to China last year to see the world famous terra cotta soldiers in Xi'an? Not likely.
While there have been wellpublicized cases of appointed public officials abusing their travel funds, as a student of public financial management (I wrote a book on the subject), I find it difficult to imagine how high-profile elected officials could seriously abuse travel funds.
Constant overseas travel on business is, on the whole, a dreadful experience so let's cut some hard-working elected politicians some slack and let them get on with the business of doing public business.
lbj@uwindsor.ca

Source http://www.windsorstar.com/