The Windsor Spitfires' Memorial Cup parade is getting $40,000 from the City of Windsor.
Council approved the cash from a city reserve. However, the motion didn't have unanimous support as councillors Rino Bortolin and Chris Holt voted against it.
The issue led to an exchange online between Bortolin and Mayor Drew Dilkens.
On Twitter, Bortolin complained about a lack of consistency on council after it approved the parade money without a single question, but spent an hour debating a similar amount of cash regarding the Open Streets event.
Dilkens replied to Bortolin with a picture of the councillor hoisting the Memorial Cup and a comment: "You raise the Cup but don't support celebrating those who earned it. I support the [Windsor Spitfires]."
my my. we just approved $40k without 1 comment for the cost of the parade for Spits yet we debated #openstreets for 40 min. consistnecy?
— Rino Bortolin (@windsor_rino) May 30, 2017
@windsor_rino You raise the Cup but don't support celebrating those who earned it. I support @SpitsHockey. #windsorproud pic.twitter.com/IEiXRnp84i
— Mayor Drew Dilkens (@drewdilkens) May 30, 2017
Councillor Paul Borrelli feels supporting the parade is important because it helps the city's image.
"No one expected the Spitfires to win," says Borrelli. "They came in because they were the home team and then they came through. That's something that's going to go Ontario-wide, Canada-wide and it puts Windsor on the map."
Councillor Ed Sleiman sees supporting the parade as a way of boosting civic pride.
"I think it will give us the pride. I think our citizens, they need to take pride in what we have been doing and I think it's going to accomplish that," says Sleiman. "How often is this going to come to Windsor? This is once in a lifetime."
Borrelli feels supporting the parade is part of capitalizing on Windsor's forward momentum.
"We had not only the Ford announcement, the Chrysler announcement, the [Gordie Howe] bridge announcement and we are sports tourism oriented — now we won, the Spitfires won. What better way to augment the idea of sports tourism?"
The Windsor Spitfires won their third Memorial Cup with a 4-3 win over the Erie Otters at the WFCU Centre on Sunday night.