City contracts with Pembina Institute improper, tax group says

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation says it has documents that show the City of Calgary paid $340,000 to the Pembina Institute, an environmental think tank.

The documents, obtained through a freedom of information request, show the money was for professional fees for communications and preparing reports,according to thefederation.

The money was paid over a three-year period.

Derek Fildebrandt, the tax groups Alberta director, said city council should pass a bylaw banning moneyfrom being paidto any political advocacy group or think tank.

Mayor Naheed Nenshi defended the contracts, saying the city regularly uses outside consultants as a way of saving money. Keeping such experts on staff would be much more expensive, he said.

Nenshi said the taxpayers group is simply objecting because the progressive Pembina Institute is an ideological foe.

But Fildebrandt said its hard to imagine the city hiring the right-leaning Fraser Institute to consult on something such as property tax reform.