OTTAWA -- The Speaker of the Senate escaped frigid Ottawa for one week in sunny Mexico this January with his wife, his chief of staff and a colleague -- and billed Canadian taxpayers for the trip.

The visit, described as an opportunity to enhance parliamentary relations between the two countries, took place while Parliament was suspended. The total cost was almost $30,000.

The details, found in a report recently tabled in the Senate, show Conservative Speaker Noel Kinsella brought along his wife, Ann; his chief of staff, Janelle Feldstein; the Senate's deputy Speaker, Liberal Sen. Gerald Comeau; and a Senate staffer on the official "Parliamentary Delegation to Mexico."

The trip took place Jan. 11-17, right in the middle of Parliament's prorogation when MPs and senators weren't scheduled back to work until Jan. 26.

Tom Mulcair, the NDP's finance critic, called the trip "scandalous," adding it's one more reason why the Senate should be abolished.

"Not only does the Senate produce nothing, not only do they serve no useful purpose, but they have free reign to spend taxpayers' money this way. It's an absolute, unacceptable scandal," said Mulcair.

He demanded the Speaker's resignation. Like all senators, Kinsella is appointed until age 75 -- he's 69 now.

Kinsella defended the Mexico trip -- and all his other trips -- as important parliamentary diplomacy and in Canada's best interests.

"If we withdraw ourselves because we are afraid of what the public might think, in my judgment, you are not being a good manager of the public interest," he said.

A REAL COUP

He pointed to meetings such as the one he had in February 2007 with Libya's leader Muammar al-Gaddafi as a real coup for Canada's diplomatic relations.

Kinsella's wife has accompanied him on all of his trips, with the exception of one visit to Washington in 2006.

"I would not travel without her," said Kinsella.

As Speaker, his spouse and a staff member can travel with him on the public's dime. His wife and chief of staff have travelled with him to Paris, Kuwait, and Yemen. In October 2007, the trio travelled to Italy before joining a delegation of senators for visits to Portugal and Russia.

They have also travelled to Poland, Slovakia, Austria, Great Britain, Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, Libya, Malta, as well as Panama and Costa Rica in January 2007.

Kinsella said he doesn't travel to sunny destinations in the summer when Parliament is on a break because "it's too damn hot."

ALTHIA.RAJ@SUNMEDIA.CA