While the economic crisis keeps many checking their wallets and looking for ways to save, the Yukon's MLAs had no problem last year snorting another record amount of travel and living expenses from the public trough.

According to figures released last week, in 2008/2009, 18 MLAs charged the taxpayer a grand total of $293,000 ($42,000 more than 2007/2008) for accommodations and the cost of shuttling them to and fro around the Yukon, Canada and the world.

Tropical Malaysia was the host country of last August's Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) Conference.

Taxpayers footed the $14,145.02 bill to send MLAs Ted Staffen (the House Speaker), Marian Horne (Justice Minister) and Gary McRobb (Liberal MLA for Kluane).

While Staffen's portion of that amount was a mere $909.26, a month earlier, the Speaker charged $3,272.48 to attend a CPA regional conference in Halifax. Liberal MLA Darius Elias' maritime jaunt to the same event cost $4,323.92.

But conferences at sunny or historic locales were not the only extracurricular travel MLAs enjoyed at the taxpayers' expense.

To attend the Kluane Mountain Bluegrass Music Festival in June, then the Dawson City Music Festival in July, New Democratic Party Leader Todd Hardy billed $1,638.81.

While more than $1,200 of that figure went toward delivering Hardy safely there and back from the Klondike's annual summer music blowout, taxpayers can take solace in the fact Hardy squeezed in a meeting with the Trondek Hwech'in First Nation while in Dawson City.

Special trips aside, once again Klondike MLA Steve Nordick (Yukon Party) topped the list of the assembly's biggest spending members as far as living allowances and travel expenses went.

Nordick produced a landmark $48,404.28 bill to taxpayers for government business trips and $1,089/month rent for Whitehorse digs in 2007/2008. He raised that bar this year to a whopping $52,506.38.

McRobb was a close second, charging taxpayers $51,958.42 to keep him mobile and under a Whitehorse roof for his legislative assembly appearances in 2008/2009.

Even if McRobb had skipped the Malaysian excursion (cost to taxpayer: $5,930.85), he would have maintained his silver finish.

Add that to McRobb's $80,947 annual base his MLA's salary and the representative for Kluane pocketed a cool $132,905.42.

While serving as deputy speaker earned Nordick an additional $10,445, all in, the Klondike MLA's annual salary plus expenses totalled $143,898.38.

In June 2007, MLAs' annual base pay was increased to $65,000 and is indexed each year to inflation.

Members are also paid $13,056, tax-free, for expenses not included as either travel or accommodation.

Ministers and the Leader of the Official Opposition are compensated an additional $36,557 and the premier gets another $15,667, as does the leader of the third party.

The house speaker is remunerated $15,667.

According to the Canadian Revenue Agency, the average personal income in the Yukon for 2006 was $42,411.

Hey, big spender!

Yukon MLAs' leader board for 2008/2009 expenses to the taxpayer:

$52,506.38 Steve Nordick, Klondike (Yukon Party)

$51,958.42 Gary McRobb, Kluane (Liberal)

$36,766.16 Eric Fairclough, Mayo-Tatchun (Lib)

$34,928.60 Marian Horne, Pelly-Nisutlin (YP)

$33,087.81 Darius Elias, Vuntut Gwitchin (Lib)

$20,236.46 Dennis Fentie, Watson Lake (YP)

$10,446.56 Patrick Rouble, Southern Lakes (YP)

$ 8,042.24 Brad Cathers, Lake Laberge (YP)

$ 7,939.69 Ted Staffen, Riverdale North (YP)

$ 7,890.89 Steve Cardiff, Mount Lorne (NDP)

$ 6,127.81 Don Inverarity, Porter Creek South (Lib)

$ 4,221.49 Arthur Mitchell, Copperbelt (Lib)

$ 3,236.73 Todd Hardy, Whitehorse Centre (NDP)

$ 1,487.11 John Edzerza, McIntyre-Takhini (Ind.)

$0 Glenn Hart, Riverdale South (YP)

$0 Jim Kenyon, Porter Creek North (YP)

$0 Archie Lang, Porter Creek Centre (YP)

$0 Elaine Taylor, Whitehorse West (YP)