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Mike W. Bryant
Staff columnist
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Thank heavens the British Empire, in their quest for glory and profit, conquered and colonized not just Canada but a host of tropical countries as well.
Otherwise, our MLAs might have had to endure all their Commonwealth parliamentary conferences in the UK or Canada, and Heaven forbid, maybe even right here in the Northwest Territories.
Fortunately, the sugar cane industry brought the Empire to a lot of nice, sunny places such as Fiji, Jamaica and the Bahamas.
I would imagine that a legislative member from say, the frosty Falkland Islands, would be over there in a heartbeat. Funny how in the last 59 years the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association has been hosting annual meetings, they have yet to hold one there.
Jamaica has hosted twice; the Bahamas three times.
Not all conference destinations are sandy beaches and palm fronds. Canada has hosted six of them, including one listed separately for Saskatchewan (?!?), but by and large it's hard to find a year where legislative members heading to these things wouldn't be tempted to pack some sandals and swim trunks before they go.
At last count, the territorial government pays $14,1269 a year to be a member of this little club.
Most years, the GNWT sends two MLAs, usually the Speaker and one ordinary MLA. The Speaker's expenses are covered by the membership fee (i.e., taxpayers); the other MLAs' expenses come directly out of taxpayers' pockets, as in former Great Slave MLA Bill Braden's $10,836 tab when he went to Fiji two years ago.
In 2004, the conference was held in Quebec City, prompting the grand idea - due to the city's relative proximity I suppose - to send six MLAs. That one cost taxpayers $30,000. Three of those MLAs: Sandy Lee, Dave Ramsay and David Krutko, are still in office.
The latest MLA to the make the trip was former premier Joe Handley, who topped off the territorial government's $160,000 tour of China with a side trip to New Delhi, India before heading off into the sunset.
It seems reasonable that our government leaders would need to take part in some international travel from time to time.
After all, part of the government's job is to encourage investment, and that's hard to do over the phone or through a brochure.
We have three diamond mines, a burgeoning oil and gas industry, winter aurora tourism with the Japanese, and some great hunting and fishing, catering mainly to the Americans.
What's disturbing about the parliamentary conferences however, is the government's reluctance to talk about them.
When a cabinet minister heads to Washington for a showdown with Congress over the Alaskan Wildlife Refuge or to Texas to talk up the Mackenzie Valley pipeline, we're sure to see some sort of announcement from the government, presumably because they feel it shows they are taking a stand or getting things done.
But they've been awfully quiet about these parliamentary trips. As a mater of fact, this newspaper only learned about them by accident when one MLA casually mentioned to a reporter that another MLA was out of town for one of these things.
The legislative assembly's' reluctance to talk about these trips draws one obvious conclusion - that MLAs know if asked, they're constituents would tell them they are nothing but hokey, irrelevant, perk-filled vacation grabs.
- Mike W. Bryant is Assignment editor for Northern News Services