Ontario councillor went to Dubai to meet a company already partnered with a local university

In the spring of 2023, a city councillor and staff member from Ontario took a brief trip to the United Arab Emirates to encourage further investment from a company already partnered with a local university.

Councillor Gurpartap Toor from Brampton, Ontario, along with city and Algoma University staff, traveled to Dubai in April to attend a "developer day" hosted by the tech company Unity and to meet with its executives. According to Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown's office, the meeting was so successful that the mayor altered his travel plans to Pakistan, making a stop in Abu Dhabi to make a final pitch to Unity, paying for this visit out of his own pocket.

Despite these meetings, more than a year later, Algoma University confirmed it had not signed any new agreements with Unity, neither during the trip nor afterward.

Documents obtained by Global News through freedom of information requests revealed that the trip's travel and accommodation costs for Brampton staff and the councillor amounted to thousands of dollars, including expenses for all-day drivers and stays in a five-star hotel. Although the documents included details on hotel stays and travel, they did not provide a total sum for the trip.

This has led to questions about the cost of the trip to Dubai, why it wasn’t disclosed publicly, and whether it was a justified use of public funds.

Travel records show that Councillor Toor and a senior staffer flew from Toronto to Dubai in late April 2023, spending thousands of dollars on flights, hotels, and local transport. The staffer's flight cost $6,500, covering a separate trip to Pakistan in May. Toor’s flight costs were not included in the documents.

While in the UAE, the Brampton team attended Unity's developer day in Abu Dhabi, met with officials from the Canadian embassy, and toured startup incubators. According to an invoice, hotel rooms for less than a week at the W Dubai – Mina Seyahi, a self-described five-star hotel, cost just under $6,700. Toor said the hotel was chosen by city staff and adhered to city policies.

"The Economic Development Office chose the hotel and made the booking in line with any applicable city policies,” Toor said, adding that the hotel's location, outside the downtown area and close to a highway, made navigation easier.

Additionally, the city paid over $4,000 for chauffeured transportation to Abu Dhabi and $266.56 for a "business lunch" with Unity. Toor emphasized that all travel logistics were arranged by city staff in accordance with policy.

When asked about the transparency of the trip, Toor said he actively shares his work as a councillor on social media to remain transparent and informative. "My goal is to not just be transparent, but to also be informative," he said, noting that it provides a learning opportunity for Brampton's younger residents.

Jay Goldberg, Ontario Director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, questioned whether local councillors should be involved in international pitches, suggesting that provincial or federal organizations would be better suited for such efforts. "I don’t think frankly that that’s actually the role of municipal government," Goldberg said. He also criticized the expenditure of taxpayer dollars on what appeared to be a "luxurious" trip, calling it "highly questionable."