What gifts are offered to Vancouver City Council, Mayor?

I have never seen a 105 millimeter M14 socket.
If I had known that one was on display in Mayor Kennedy Stewart’s “ceremonial boardroom” when I did my year-end interview with him in December, I would have taken a look. the large brass cartridge.
Not because I am an avid Army enthusiast, but because it was one of the “gifts” declared by Stewart last year by filing a “gift disclosure statement”, which is a requirement under of the city’s code of conduct.
The mayor and councilors must complete a form when they receive a “gift or personal benefit” of $ 50 or more. Stewart didn’t give a monetary value for the case, which I believe came from one of those big guns you see soldiers shoot while saluting on Remembrance Day.
The case was given to him by the 15th RCA Field Artillery Regiment, which is based at the Bessborough Armory on West 11th Avenue. The regiment presented it to Stewart as a thank you for the honor of “city liberty” in October 2021.
So what else did he get? What about the rest of the board?
Sulwhasoo Essential Skin Care Set
Good questions and those I posed to the city communications department, who gathered the disclosures from the past two years and emailed them to me, which was much appreciated; Before, I had to go up to town hall, leaf through a binder, then photocopy each form.
Before speaking to Councilors, I wanted to let you know that the Mayor also received a Sulwhasoo “Essential Skin Care Set” valued at $ 350. The Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in Vancouver presented it to Stewart in September 2020 in recognition of the 50th anniversary of the consulate in the city.
The mayor forwarded it to the city registry.
I don’t know what happened after that, although the clerk has the following options when sending a gift from an elected official: return it to the donor, display it in individual offices, general offices, or in the public spaces of the town hall, dispose of it by donation, sale or auction, the proceeds of which are credited to the general revenue of the Town, or to the direct or indirect support of a charity.
Vancouver Canucks Alumni Lunch
Now to the advisers …
• Lisa Dominato said: a $ 79 note received from Fortis BC for a board of trade event in Surrey in February 2020; a $ 400 registration fee from the Pooni Group to attend a Vancouver Canucks alumni luncheon at the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver in November 2021; a registration fee of $ 89.25 from the Urban Development Institute to attend its holiday reception in December 2021; a $ 103.95 registration fee from Air Canada (seated at the airline table) to attend the Mayor’s “State of the City” speech in November 2021.
• Jean Swanson said: $ 79.95 in Lush beauty / toiletry products, which was donated to him by the Aboriginal Front Door Society in April 2020; Swanson donated the goods to “a community group”.
Swanson also received a registration fee worth $ 245 from the BC Non-profit Housing Corporation in October 2020 for the BC Housing Central Conference in December of that year.
• Christine Boyle claimed the same $ 245 fee for the accommodation event and accepted five tickets valued at $ 200 in October 2021 from Paquin Entertainment to attend the immersive Imagine Van Gogh exhibit at the Vancouver Convention Center.
• Pete Fry declared four Christmas gifts in December 2020: a $ 35 bottle of wine from Hollyburn Properties; a tie valued at $ 90 from the Royal Thai Consulate General in Vancouver; a $ 30 bottle of wine from the Turkish Consulate in Vancouver; a $ 30 Ikebana calendar from the Japanese Consulate General’s office.
• Rebecca Bligh said: Five free tickets valued at $ 225 from Paquin Entertainment Group to the Imagine Picasso exhibit at the Vancouver Convention Center.
• Michael Wiebe said: Four Imagine Picasso tickets valued at $ 39.99 each from Paquin Entertainment Group.
You will notice that not all board members have reported personal benefit gifts in the past two years, which means Adriane Carr, Melissa De Genova, Colleen Hardwick, and Sarah Kirby-Yung had nothing to do with it. to report, or that they had nothing to report. t filed yet.
The code of conduct states that all gifts or personal benefits over $ 50 must be deposited with the city clerk “as soon as possible.” Kirby-Yung told me on Monday that she had nothing to report.
There was a time when the board received more than skin cream, tickets to art exhibitions and wine, as I reported in 2008. This is when the board headed by Sam Sullivan took yacht rides to watch the fireworks in English Bay, went to Cirque de Soleil, and attended Canucks games and a Bruce Springsteen concert in private boxes.
Concord Pacific, one of the city’s biggest developers and then-biggest donors to the NPA and Vision Vancouver campaigns, paid the price for it all.
@Howellings