Coun. Brad Johns unfazed by ‘award’ for $25K tree

A local councillor is sticking to his guns after being bestowed a not-so-flattering award earlier this week.

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation gave Coun. Brad Johns the 2015 Teddy Waste Award earlier for the $25,000 talking Christmas tree he bought late last year.

Johns told the Sheldon MacLeod Show the dubious distinction doesn’t faze him.

“I really don’t give a flying care what somebody in Ottawa thinks about things,” he said. “Some people say some very personal things for people who don’t personally know you, which is kind of funny, but in this particular case, these people don’t know me, they live far away, I don’t represent them.”

Johns said a  lot of good came of the robotic tree, including raised funds for a local food bank, a sense of community in his district, and, for or better or for worse — some Halifax attention.

“This tree went international,” he said. “So, you know, it certainly put HRM and Halifax on the map.”

The tree also landed him a comparison to former Toronto mayor Rob Ford, but Johns isn’t dwelling on that too much.

Overall, he said there was no negative feedback from his constituents over the infamous purchase.

The federation handed a runner-up prize to NB Liquor for spending $124,000 to buy 40,000 craft beer growlers that nobody seemed to want.

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