Mike W. Bryant
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (May 27/05) - A city councillor is criticizing a former colleague turned MLA for travelling to Japan on the taxpayer's dime.

Coun. Alan Woytuik, who has often criticized the amount of money council spends on travel, was flabbergasted to hear Yellowknife Centre MLA Robert Hawkins used his constituency fund to pay for a recent trip to Expo 2005 in Aichi, Japan.

"He gets a constituency budget to spend how he sees fit, I guess," said Woytuik.

"I just don't know if I agree that it is a proper use of funds to travel over to Japan with no substantial benefit for his constituents."

Hawkins, who returned Monday, said the benefit to his constituents is the profile he helped raise for Yellowknife's aurora tourism business.

"They spent $16 million last year here in the Northwest Territories," says Hawkins.

"That's 12,000 people."

The former city councillor said he checked with the NWT ethics commissioner to make sure it was okay to use his constituency fund for the trip.

Still calculating cost

While Hawkins said he hasn't calculated the total cost for the eight-day visit, he said he did it on the cheap.

His return plane ticket to Japan came to $700, and he shared a hotel room with two other people, he said. A return plane ticket from Yellowknife to Vancouver typically costs around $1,200 depending on the season.

Hawkins said his annual constituency fund is about $8,500. He said he went to Expo 2005 after receiving an invitation with Yellowknife-based company Aurora World. He wanted to gauge the Japanese love affair with the aurora borealis and was stunned by the reception he received there.

"Every time I mentioned Yellowknife -- aurora!" said Hawkins.

The MLA said he is disappointed the territorial government would only commit $500,000 towards the Canadian pavilion at Expo. He is calling on the government to establish a permanent office in Japan to help spread the word about the NWT's Aurora Borealis.

"(They) got a culture that teaches their people that they have to see the aurora in order to get into heaven," said Hawkins.

"We need an office there. People want to come to Yellowknife, not just Canada but Yellowknife. I had total chills down my spine. They just want to know."