Northern News Services

Iqaluit (Oct 03/05) - Two MLAs and a bureaucrat spent a week on a Pacific island at the expense of Nunavut taxpayers.

The speaker of the legislative assembly Jobie Nutarak, Quttiktuq MLA Levi Barnabas and the clerk of the legislative assembly John Quirke travelled to Fiji at the beginning of September, at an estimated cost of more than $20,000, for the annual Commonwealth Parliamentary Association meetings.

Nutarak's trip was heavily subsidized by the group, which Nunavut pays around $6,000 a year to belong to.

The other two trips cost around $11,000 each, said Quirke.

A call to a Nunavut travel agency revealed that an individual could leave Iqaluit for Fiji on Oct. 1 and return a week later for about $8,800.

Legislative assembly public relations officer Tony Rose would not confirm the cost for the trips, leaving Quirke's estimates as the only guide.

The three delegates left on Sept. 2 and returned on Sept. 10.

There were meetings from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. for all three every day, with the exception of Sept. 5, which was a day off to enjoy the world famous beaches of Fiji. Every province except B.C. sent delegates, and many brought their spouses along for the trip at their own expense.

All three Nunavut representatives were travelling solo.

For Quirke, the highlight was seeing Nutarak address the global disaster seminar, discussing global warming.

"He made a lot of contacts, and his speech was enthusiastically received, especially after the delegates realized that he was an Inuk," said Quirke.

Global warming will hit the North first, and Quirke said the speaker addressed "his way of life and global warming."

Quirke also joked about "clerking for four" at the small nations conference.

The other two territories and PEI didn't send their clerks, so he was available to all four Canadian legislative speakers at the meetings.

It is unlikely that Nunavut will send any delegates to the annual conference next year, as the government has a full plate with the boundaries commission and a leadership review planned, he said.

That is OK by Quirke.

"We don't need to go every year. Once a term is great."

One of the first motions passed by the Nunavut legislative assembly in 1999 was to join the group.

This year about 300 representatives from 172 legislative bodies sent representatives.

Nutarak and Barnabas did not return phone calls prior to deadline.

- With files from Mike W. Bryant and Paul Bickford