In the spring of 2023, a councillor and city staffer set off on a brief trip from Ontario to the United Arab Emirates to try to attract a company, already partnered with a local university, to invest further in their city.
Coun. Gurpartap Toor of Brampton, Ont., along with city and Algoma University staff, went to Dubai in April last year to attend a “developer day” for a major tech company, Unity, and meet with its executives.
The meeting went so well, according to Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown’s office, that he amended a trip he was taking to Pakistan to “make one final pitch” to the company in Abu Dhabi at his own expense.
More than a year after those meetings took place, however, the university involved, Algoma, said it has not signed a new agreement with the company, nor did it sign one during the trip.
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Receipts and travel itineraries …