What happened in Italy? Luxury hotels, booze and fine dining: Here's how Brant trustees spent $50,000 in eight days
Aperol spritzes weren't on the agenda when four Catholic trustees visited Italy over the summer — but they did indulge in mojitos, beer, Baileys and whisky, albeit not on the taxpayer's dime.
The elected representatives of Brant Haldimand Norfolk Catholic District School Board (BHNCDSB)
racked up $127,000 in travel and art costs on t
he publicly funded trip — plus nearly $63,000 more in legal costs managing the aftermath — prompting a ministry review.
The report released Wednesday gives insight into
where things went wrong
, but also how the trustees spent taxpayer dollars which they have since vowed to repay.
Here's a look at what it revealed:
A picture from Gardena Grödnerhof Hotel & Spa's website shows a dish from Ristorante Anna Stuben where trustees ate a four-course meal.
On July 8, then-chair Rick Petrella and fellow trustees Bill Chopp, Mark Watson and Dan Dignard boarded a Lufthansa airlines flight bound for Munich, business-class tickets in hand.
Their flights averaged around $3,500 per person, each way.
On arrival July 9, they picked up their ride, a grey Volvo XC90, and checked into 'deluxe' and 'superior' category rooms in the Westin Grand Munich.
That first night, they ate chicken wings and nachos, Chopp told reviewer Aaron Shull.
Dinner was included in the $6,700 two-night hotel bill, so it's 'unclear' how the $219 receipt Petrella submitted for 'dinner at hotel and parking' fits, Shull said.
An Oktoberfest hall was their destination for the night — they took an Uber and stayed for an hour and a half, but did not expense their 'rounds of beer,' the trustees told Shull.
On July 10, the trustees toured downtown Munich and the churches and ate the dinner included with their stay.
The next morning, they checked out, driving the 270 kilometres to Ortisei, a 'resort area,' where they would stay for three nights, at a cost of nearly $8,400.
One bill submitted from that time included 27 alcoholic beverages, including Campari sodas, rum, scotch whisky, Baileys, mojitos, beer, wine and digestifs (like amaro or grappa).
While the expense wasn't claimed, Shull noted it as 'relevant' since the trip was described as 'professional.'
It was February 2024 when Petrella reached out to the Saint Pio Foundation to ask about getting a life-sized statue of St. Padre Pio for the new high school being built in Brantford.
Over the following months, Petrella had an ongoing email exchange with Guido Goller, a 'master sculptor' at the Giuseppe Stuflesser workshop, according to LinkedIn.
The workshop made a St. Padre Pio sculpture for the All Saints Roman Catholic Church in Etobicoke, according to its website.
When the trustees visited on July 12, it's 'somewhat unclear' how long they spent at the sculptor's workshop. The accounts varied from 'approximately an hour and a half' to 'the full day, with a break for lunch,' Shull wrote.
That night, the group dined at Ristorante Anna Stuben, a Michelin-starred spot at Relais & Châteaux-associated Hotel Gardena Grodnerhof.
There, the trustees indulged in four-course menus with wine pairings. Petrella was reimbursed for the total cost of just over $1,600 for all four of them.
Some trustees took a cable car ride in Ortisei 'to enjoy the views of the surrounding Dolomite mountains,' according to the report.
The next day, they explored Ortisei 'as tourists.' Some took the cable car 'to enjoy the views of the surrounding Dolomite mountains' and 'strolled around afterward, browsing through the local shops and boutiques.'
The trustees expensed four dinners at the Hotel Angelo Engel that night, to the tune of around $360.
The next day, they drove back to Munich, and paid $1,182 to stay at the Hilton Airport hotel for the night.
On July 15, they returned to Canada and took a $316 limo from the airport to the board office in Brantford.
A portion from each trustee's biweekly honorarium payment is being deducted to repay their trip expenses, as they vowed to do after
people expressed outrage
over the travel.
Of the $12,666 they each owe, as of March 6, the trustees have repaid $2,102 (Petrella), $1,072 (Dignard) and $2,262 (Chopp). Watson has repaid $1,216 of the $12,370 he agreed to, the report said.
At this rate, it will be August 2028 before all have settled up — long after their current term ends with the next municipal election scheduled for October 2026, Shull noted.
The trustees believed they could cover the nearly $70,000 spent on art through donations.
However, Shull didn't find evidence to confirm any donations, raising questions about 'the feasibility' and 'whether public funds may eventually be required.'
Education Minister Paul Calandra has given the board 30 days to repay the province for the trustee travel expenses, art and artifacts.
'To be clear, I expect immediate action in Brant, and if I am not satisfied I will take additional steps,' he said at a news conference Wednesday.
Trustees travelled to Italy to get artwork for St. Padre Pio Catholic Secondary School. Signage shows the future site of the Brantford school in a file photo.
Calandra called out other boards he has his eye on.
He put Thames Valley District School Board under supervision after senior board officials took a $40,000 retreat at Toronto's SkyDome hotel amid a 'multimillion-dollar budget deficit.'
The 'structural deficits over multiple years' at Thames Valley didn't show 'any clear path back to a balanced budget, differentiating its situation from Brant's,' and preventing the board from the same fate, he told reporters.
However, if BHNCDSB doesn't 'fully implement' the province's recommendations 'and report back to me very quickly that they have done so,' he will take 'further actions' to ensure 'maximum accountability.'
A spokesperson for the board said Wednesday it had 'just received' the report and will be 'taking time to examine' it.
'As always, the board will co-operate with the minister and the Ministry of Education. The board will review the recommendations contained within the report, and once we have thoroughly examined it, we will be able to share additional information,' the statement continued.
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