Give Giorgio Mammoliti credit for playing a very enthusiastic
game of Marco Polo indeed. A news release from the York West Councillor’s
office this week announced that he and one other Toronto Zoo staff person are
off in China
now, in his attempts to secure two panda-bears for the Toronto Zoo.
Mammoliti, who is one of two declared candidates for mayor,
made a spirited case for his trip to China earlier this fall at the
Toronto Zoo Board. At the time, he argued that Toronto’s
last trip to China was in
2003 – at which point there was some interest in sending panda bears Toronto’s way from the
Congqing Zoological Gardens. But another trip was necessary to cement the
relationship.
At the meeting, it emerged that the Chinese consul-general
had told zoo board members point-blank that going back to China would be
a pointless exercise, and any further forays into panda-diplomacy were best
handled at the federal level.
In a news release from Mammoliti’s office, the
mayor-in-waiting suggested that the trip to China
now – costing about $14,000 – might spur Prime Minister Stephen Harper to bring
the subject up when he visits China
in December.
“It
is vital that the Toronto Zoo continue its efforts to gain the support of the
Federal Government for Giant Pandas. Ideally, Giant Pandas will be a topic of
conversation on Prime Minister Harper’s visit to China in early December,” said
Mammoliti in the press release.
He
didn’t mention the cost of the visit. But at the Toronto Zoo Board meeting, it
emerged that the trip would cost $7,000 per person. So it’s likely that he and
Dr. William Rapley, who’s accompanying him, will spend about $14,000 on the
panda-quest.