$28,000 panda trip gets okay from zoo

2009-10-03

Donovan Vincent, Toronto Star

But mayor and Chinese government oppose controversial junket

In a bid to bring a pair of giant pandas here, the Toronto Zoo board is proceeding with a controversial trip to China – against strong advice from Mayor David Miller, the Chinese government and consular officials that such discussion needs to happen at the national level.

"I don't think we're doing this logically. The majority of the board is ignoring all professional and political advice we've received,'' said an incensed Councillor Paul Ainslie, who voted against the trip Friday.

The board, mainly city councillors, voted 4-2 to send up to four people. They also invited Calgary zoo officials, who are interested in pandas, to join them, along with representatives from the federal government.

It's still unclear who would actually take the trip, said Councillor Giorgio Mammoliti, who chairs the zoo's fundraising committee.

Though he voted in favour, board chairman Raymond Cho said afterward that he wouldn't go unless Ottawa responds or the Chinese consul general in Toronto indicates he should go.

But that official, Zhu Taoying, already told Cho and other board members in the spring that federal officials need to be involved, and Miller agreed. Joe Torzsok, a citizen member who also voted for the trip, said he wouldn't be going either, because of a personal engagement.

The trip's purpose is to "reaffirm'' a September 2003 commitment between the Chongqing and Toronto zoos to provide a breeding pair of giant pandas, subject to "appropriate" approvals. The two zoos are officially "twinned."

A zoo staff report initially had suggested sending nine people on the junket, for around $63,000. It also called for hiring a consultant, at up to $20,000, to get Ottawa and Queen's Park involved.

But with several media representatives watching Friday, the board voted to trim the visitors to no more than four, for about $28,000. It also rejected hiring a consultant.

The report suggests bringing the pandas here would boost attendance and draw an extra $9.3 million in revenue in the first year. Pandas visited the zoo briefly in 1985, and it has been trying to bring them back since the early 1990s. Mammoliti said the trip must happen, with or without Ottawa.

"Zoos traditionally have been at the bottom of the list" in government priorities, he told reporters.

Relations between Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government and China have also been frosty, though there's speculation Harper might visit China this fall. An official in the Prime Minister's Office declined to comment to the Star.