22 Mar Alms for the poor; $400K for Harold MacKay

A Halifax friend writes:

When you see the rigamarole HRM Council goes through each year during budget time to decide which non-profit organizations will receive Community Grants of as little as a few hundred dollars, I find it hard to believe it never occurred to Mayor Kelly that he should consult council before endorsing a single $400,000 grant to Power Promotional Events Inc., a for-profit company.

Surely Kelly would be aware of that organizations wishing to obtain a community grant are required to meet very stringent criteria and submit a formal application which is thoroughly vetted by staff from several different Municipal departments, a standing committee of Council (i.e., the HRM Grants Committee), and then Regional Council as a whole.

I’d be surprised if he was not also aware of the fact that, in 2010/11, the municipality received 98 community grant applications and, after much ado, approved 78 of them, for a total value of $490,848. It would be interesting to hear Kelly explain to taxpayers why small non-profit community organizations should have to go through this very rigorous application and approval process for grants averaging less than $6,300, while a for-profit company like Power Promotional Events Inc. is able to obtain a $400,000 grant by just showing up for a meeting with the Mayor at City Hall.

It would be interesting, wouldn’t it? Your Worship, the floor is yours.