Federal government takes time to pay bills, councillors learn

Ottawa citizen – October 30, 2009

By Patrick Dare

OTTAWA — The federal government takes its time to pay the City of Ottawa’s bills for big events like U.S. President Barack Obama’s visit, but it does pay eventually, city councillors were told Thursday.

Councillors examining the 2010 budget were surprised to learn that the federal government takes between two and three years to pay bills for major national events, such as the downtown Tamil demonstrations earlier this year.

Obama’s visit in February cost $4 million, including overtime pay for police, firefighters paramedics and public works staff, as well as equipment such as barricades and protective gear.

Councillor Michel Bellemare expressed frustration that it would take so long to get money from the federal government. He said a protocol should be in place to speed up payments for extraordinary costs.

But city Treasurer Marian Simulik said the bills are simply treated as an account receivable.

Deputy city manager Steve Kanellakos said the federal government is under no legal obligation to pay.

He said the government takes a long time to scrutinize the costs, but they pay up, albeit without interest.

“They’ve been very good to us,” said Kanellakos.