Prince George mayor to report monthly expenses after documents revealed overspending on travel and meals

The mayor of Prince George plans to disclose his expenses in a monthly report to both city council and the public.

The move comes after reporting from CBC News found that in his first 10 months in office, Simon Yu had significantly overspent his proposed budget for meals, entertainment and travel — expensing more than $18,000 to taxpayers, nearly double the $9,500 recommended.

At the time, the mayor blamed a combination of inexperience and inflation for the increased costs, saying he wasn't fully aware of the best way to report his activities to the public and council.

Now, he says he hopes to increase transparency around his activities by publicly disclosing his spending in monthly reports to council and posted to the city website.

"Reporting out the accumulated expenses as a percentage of the annual budget will also increase accountability as the public will be aware when I have spent close to the budget for the year," Yu says in a Dec. 22 report contained in Monday's council agenda package.

As it stands, councillors must share their expenses on a quarterly basis. Unlike councillors, who have a set annual budget, the mayor of Prince George has a suggested budget and it is largely up to the mayor to decide if an activity is in the public interest.

Meals, hotel expenses under scrutiny

Among the expenses revealed last month in the documents, which were obtained via a freedom of information request, were more than $4,000 in meal expenses, primarily at restaurants in Prince George, as well as a one-night stay at the Prestige Treasure Cove Hotel in Prince George — within five kilometres of the mayor's home.

Yu has told local media he is paying the city back $242 for the latter expense, though he has not offered an explanation for why he needed to stay at the hotel rather than returning home.

The documents also showed the mayor had travelled to Ottawa to mark the 100th anniversary of Canada's Chinese Exclusion Act on June 23. In total, the trip to attend a two-hour event at the Senate of Canada Chamber cost more than $2,000, including $759 on a hotel room for two nights at the Fairmont Château Laurier.

Read the full list of the mayor's expenses:

The trip had not previously been publicized to citizens in Prince George, either through the city's communications office or the mayor's own statements, nor was local media made aware of the mayor's attendance at the event.

When asked about the trip, Yu told CBC News and other outlets that he felt it was important to mark the event and believed it was up to the city's communication team to publicize the trip and his other activities, if they chose to do so. City communications manager Julie Rogers said many of the mayor's trips and meetings were not shared with her or her team.

In future, Yu says he hopes monthly expense reporting will make it easier for everyone to be aware of his activities and to decide if they are in the public interest.

"My intention is to supplement this information with regular verbal updates at council meetings as a matter of best practice. This will inform the public of the type of meetings the mayor is undertaking on behalf of the city," the mayor's report reads.