Kerry McCluskey
Northern News Services

Iqaluit (May 20/02) - Let's talk about furniture, shall we?

Eyebrows were raised earlier this year when it came to light that Nunavut Tunngavik spent $12,000 on a board table for the president's office. A desk of approximately the same worth also adorns the office.

Cabinet ministers bought themselves a new table recently. The price tag on the piece of furniture rang in at slightly more than $26,000. - Kerry McCluskey/NNSL photo In Iqaluit, $26,000 can buy: one cabinet boardroom table 6,516 loaves of bread at $3.99 per loaf 4,340 two-litre cartons of milk at $5.99 per carton 1,238 boxes of .223 bullets at $21 per box 279.9 litres of gasoline at 92.9 cents per litre (be careful of the gas, however) almost 50,000 Pampers 5,210 boxes of tea at $4.99 per box 86 pairs of kamiks at $300 per pair 866 textbooks for children at $30 per textbook

Not to be outdone by their colleagues in the Inuit organization, Nunavut's cabinet ministers recently decided to buy themselves a new table for their board room. The price tag on that piece of furniture rings in at more than $26,000.

Produced by the Qikiqtaaluk Corporation using local stone and local labour, the oval table sits on the second floor of the legislative assembly near the cabinet ministers' offices.

Premier Paul Okalik said the furniture was a good way to show off to the public the kind of products that can be produced in Nunavut.

"It's a good product to promote the territory. It's a locally produced product we can market further," said Okalik.

"When visitors come to see the Legislature, it will be part of the tour. We haven't shown off the cabinet room much, but with the table, it's an added bonus," he said.

What remains unclear however, is how people on tours will see the table. Tony Rose, the public affairs officer for the legislative assembly, is the official tour guide of the building. In the almost two years he's been leading members of the public and dignitaries through the corridors, he has never shown anyone the cabinet boardroom.

"We focus on the public areas of the building. We look at the first floor and the artwork and the chamber and the third floor where the library is, but we don't take people into the members' office area, the ministers' office area or the administration area," said Rose. But, he saidhe isn't the only employee to give tours.

"Members and ministers also do tours," said Rose.

As for who decided to purchase the table, Okalik said the cabinet ministers made the decision to spend the dollars from the previous fiscal year.

"We went through the normal cabinet exercise with (the financial management board) ... It's within the authority of cabinet," he said.