SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - The cost of Premier Floyd Roland's conflict of interest inquiry totals slightly more than $200,000, but it was a unavoidable expense, according to some of the MLAs who launched the complaint.

Calling the report a "scathing indictment" of the premier's behaviour, Kam Lake MLA Dave Ramsay said the report "was necessary to clear the air."

After an inquiry was held in early October, Adjudicator Ted Hughes found Roland was in conflict of interest when he didn't disclose his intimate relationship with the principal clerk of committees, Patricia Russell.

Hughes' report concluded that while Roland did breach the act by not disclosing the relationship promptly, it did not recommend any punishment because Hughes ruled Roland made the error in judgment in good faith.

In a press release sent Tuesday, Tim Mercer, clerk of the legislative assembly, reported the inquiry's counsel fees amounted to more than $73,437; Hughes' services cost $41,250; legal fees for the legislative assembly and Roland's counsel amounted to more than $49,000; travel and accommodation totalled approximately $13,700; court reporting, clerking and other fees rounded out the expenses.

Hay River South MLA Jane Groenewegen, said the inquiry was relatively short and reasonably priced, compared to conflict of interest inquiries in the past.

She said two months after Hughes's announced his findings, she didn't feel strongly about the outcome one way or another.

"It's gone. It's in the past, it's not something I think about now," she said in an interview. "There's no unanswered questions as far as I'm concerned."

At the time of the adjudicator's findings, Groenewegen said her heart had left the job because of the ordeal.

Other MLAs also appeared willing to put the inquiry behind them and move forward with house business. No questions were put to the premier about the expenses in the legislative assembly.

Frame Lake MLA Wendy Bisaro said she thought the legislative assembly's board of management should expand the definition of conflict of interest to include moral and ethical conflict of interests and clarify that relationships between an elected official and a staff member of the legislative assembly were a conflict of interest. She also said it might be useful to provide more options for the adjudicator to impose sanctions.

Ramsay said in the future, those bringing complaints forward should have access to legal counsel during an inquiry.

"Is it fair to expect legal representation for the complainant? I think it is. It's not a level playing field," he said.

Ramsay said he's noticed an improvement in Roland's performance in the past ten months.

"He's definitely more engaged in the job. Perhaps he faced some distractions during that whole episode but he seems more dedicated ...There's a realization he has to work with regular members, that's improved," he said.

When asked if he still believed Roland should resign, Ramsay said, "It's getting so close to the end of the life of this government, we'd probably be doing more harm than good."

"I've softened on that somewhat in an effort to try to move the agenda along here. You can only have so much in the way of disruptions ... they just cloud everything else that needs to be done," he said.