Mayor Lisa Helps has been taking some heat for her trip to Seattle to retire "Mr Floatie" in Seattle.
Friday's trip to Seattle for a retirement ceremony for "Mr Floatie" has recieved national media attention but at least one regional politician is not amused.
Saanich Mayor Richard Atwell says it's a trip "all about image" and he openly wondered about the cost of a trip he described as "silly". "Saanich funds tourism Victoria as well, tourism is a big part of the area her but to me this just seems really, really silly."
For her part Mayor Lisa Helps says taking care of Victoria's sewage problem has been a high priority for residents of Washington State because the current in the Salish Sea sends our effluent right to Puget sound. "I think it's really important that we are open for tourists and we are a sustainable region and a sustainable city and tha was one of Seattle's biggest concerns and there were hotel cancellations and there were conference cancellations and now we don't have that black eye on our region anymore."
Helps also says the trip was paid for entirely by tourism Victoria not one cent of the trip was funded by Victoria tax payers.