Dubai, Dublin and Pakistan: Ontario city under fire over foreign trips for council [Video]

Over the course of 2023, elected officials from an Ontario city visited countries across three continents in search of economic investment to bring back to the Greater Toronto Area, going on more trips than some of their colleagues in larger cities.

Throughout last year, Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown and his councillors went to Karachi, Dubai, Dublin, Anaheim, Lisbon and Detroit. The trips included visits to local startups, attending conferences and meeting diplomatic officials.

The number of overseas missions undertaken by Brampton councillors is significantly higher than both Mississauga and Ottawa, two larger cities, and has raised criticism from some.

“I fail to understand why so many councillors are going on these taxpayer-paid trips,” former Brampton councillor Elaine Moore said in a recent interview.

Documents obtained by Global News using freedom of information laws show the first trip of the year, led by Mayor Brown and a councillor to Pakistan, resulted in an invoice for $92,570.48.