Citizens have a right to know how much ePrix cost
We deserve to know how public dollars were spent on Formula E — before election day
So much for transparency. The group created by the city to organize the contentious electric car race in July now says a full accounting of the financials for ePrix will not be available before the November election.
In a letter to Snowdon councillor Marvin Rotrand, which he made public Monday, Montréal, c’est électrique said it won’t be able to answer such questions as how many tickets were sold or how much money the city ultimately kicked in to host the Formula E, because an independent accounting firm has been hired to go over the books. You see, calculating those results will take some time. And once tabulated, they must be submitted through the proper channels prior to being released. And besides that, the organization is “measuring the socio-economic impact of the event,” including a poll gauging how well it promoted the virtues of electrifying transportation.
“It appears it will be impossible to deliver these before the elections are held, despite the importance of this information to your organization,” wrote Montréal, c’est électrique general manager Simon Pillarella.
How nice of Pillarella to acknowledge that the figures being requested are, in fact, extremely important. What he doesn’t seem to appreciate is to whom they matter. Rotrand and Projet Montréal leader Valérie Plante, have both hammered Mayor Denis Coderre about the financials for the race at city council. But Montréal, c’est électrique must answer to someone else: Voters who will be choosing the next mayor and council of Montreal deserve to know how public dollars were spent on the Formula E — before election day rolls around.
Recall that the city set up Montréal, c’est électrique. It’s the city that fronted $24 million for the rights to host the Formula E for three years. It’s the city that is guaranteeing a $10-million line of credit for the organization in case its expenses are not recouped from sponsorships, ticket sales and other revenues. And it’s the mayor of this city who assured Montrealers in the days after the race was run that the Formula E was a “mission accomplished.”
If it was such a great success, then open the books. How many tickets were actually sold versus how many were given away to disgruntled residents who were inconvenienced by the monthlong setup and takedown of the course in eastern downtown? How many people actually attended? How much money was earned in sponsorship to defray expenditures? Did Montréal, c’est électrique have to dip into its taxpayer-funded line of credit?
The answers are a matter of simple math that don’t need to be tied up with a bow along with a social analysis of how well its pro-electrification message was received. Surely organizers can crunch the numbers on ticket revenues within a reasonable time. If they can’t, it’s one more reason to worry.
But this goes well beyond Montreal, c’est électrique opening its books — which they will have to do by March of next year. The real question is, how much did Montreal lose on this event in total? We still don’t have the full picture of what it cost to offer free public transit and free Bixi service all Formula E weekend, or of the overtime costs for police managing the fallout from the traffic chaos downtown. It certainly seems like the city kicked in a lot of extras to ensure the ePrix ran smoothly, but how have those costs been accounted for and who is picking up the tab?
Sure, it was always unrealistic to expect Montreal’s first electric car race to break even. But there’s a difference between the city backstopping a fledgling event that might have a hope of future success and footing the bill for a total flop.
The longer it takes to learn the final price, the more it smacks of a convenient excuse to hold back the details prior to voting day. But the ePrix is not going to mysteriously evaporate as an election issue. If anything, failure to provide answers will only feed concerns about Montreal’s billion-dollar 375th birthday bash.
Montrealers want value for their money. They want to see useful and lasting initiatives rather than money frittered away on vanity projects or fleeting events. They would rather see money spent on sports and cultural infrastructure they can use as part of their daily lives than put in the pockets of private promoters who stage large-scale spectacles, that while fun, cost big bucks to attend. And they want transparency in how public funds are being spent.
The citizens of Montreal have a right to know how much the ePrix cost them in total so they can make up their own minds about whether it was worth it.