The high cost and lack of details were the reasons behind a Windsor city councillor's decision to vote against spending the money for the Windsor Spitfires' Memorial Cup celebratory parade.
During Monday night's city council meeting, Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens asked council to approve spending up to $40,000 for Wednesday's parade and celebration to honour the Memorial Cup champion Windsor Spitfires.
Bortolin says his vote had nothing to do with community pride, but rather the cost seemed too high. He points out in comparison, the Windsor Express parade and celebrations cost less than $10,000
"There is nothing not to be proud of," says Bortolin. "But at the end of the day, we are forced to make decisions about spending taxpayer's money. This is a momentary celebration and $40,000 seems to be high for that momentary celebration."
Bortolin says he would have liked to have seen a breakdown of the cost.
"When this discussion came up, there wasn't one single question. It was just approved without discussion — $40,000 dropped at the last minute without explaining what the expenses were, wasn't something I could support especially when we had a very thorough and robust discussion about hiring a project manager for $20,000 to $25,000 for Open Streets," says Bortolin.
Ward 4 City Councillor Chris Holt, along with Bortolin, were the only councillors who voted against the motion to approve the parade money.
The parade starts on Oullette St. at Wyandotte St. and moves north to the Festival Plaza where there will be speeches.
AM800 will carry the speeches LIVE at 6:30pm.