Half of Toronto’s city councillors shovelled up extra dirt to their residents in 2014 and got the rest of us to pay for it.
A filthy truth hidden in councillors’ constituency and office expenses – posted by the city this week – is many are doubling down on the free leaf compost dispensed at their Environment Days.
Residents from those wards coming to the popular events are free to take one cubic metre of compost per household, enough to fill a car trunk.
Apparently, the 12-tonnne truckload supplied to each Environment Day isn’t nearly enough for Glenn De Baeremaeker, the Scarborough Centre councillor who expensed $4,500 in extra compost.
Scarborough-Rouge River Councillor Raymond Cho gave $3,750 worth of additional dirt to his residents, while Cesar Palacio’s community compost pile in Davenport was the third-largest, costing taxpayers $3,500.
"I dump one load of compost in every subdivision," De Baeremaeker, who hosts eight compost-dispensing events a year in his ward, said Tuesday, Nov. 4.
Residents who line up for the compost are free to talk to him about any topic, De Baeremaeker added, which "means I can send out fewer newsletters."
Other notable believers in giving out more of the stuff – which residents can also haul away free from city transfer stations on Saturdays from early April to early October – are Trinity-Spadina’s Mike Layton ($2,250), Paula Fletcher of Toronto-Danforth ($2,000), and Trinity-Spadina’s Adam Vaughan, who spread $2,000 worth of extra soil around at three ward events in May before resigning to run for a federal seat.
In all, 22 councillors billed the city for additional compost, and while some others didn’t, several expensed advertisements or flyers to promote their Environment Days.
Gloria Lindsay Luby, the retiring Etobicoke Centre councillor, spent $1,362 on flyers and ads for her event.
Rob Ford, the city’s penny-pinching mayor, expensed $1,392 for additional advertising to let people know about his own Environment Day.
Michelle Berardinetti of Scarborough Southwest topped this year’s list for spending on constituency services and office expenses with $23,943, while Doug Ford, as an Etobicoke North councillor, filed no office expenses of any kind.