In an effort to escape the political heat at home, the PM is off on a whirlwind 11-day tour of Europe later this month. The PM will be attending the G-8 economic summit and has meetings scheduled with world leaders including Bill Clinton, Tony Blair, Boris Yeltsin and Pope John Paul II. Fair enough.

But what really irks taxpayers is that 17 MPs and three Senators, all of Italian descent, have been invited to join 70 business people on a four-day junket to Italy from May 19-23. Call it the Pasta Posse Parade to the Pope.

A quick glance at the Public Accounts suggests that the size of this delegation is large and unprecedented. The PM's trip to the G7 summit in Lyon (1996) and his subsequent visit to Rome cost taxpayers $533,619. In tow were a few ministers, eight MPs and a host of bureaucrats. The Team Canada trade mission to the Far East (1997) cost us $3 million. Only three cabinet ministers accompanied the PM and the Premiers on this trip.

Government spin-doctors defend the delegation's size by saying it will help build Italian-Canadian relations. But the list of who the MPs will be meeting is still not finalized. And the Hill Times reports that this trip was cooked up in March. So much for advance planning!

This trip looks more like a 4-day getaway to discover the old country and build rolodexes. And seasoned Ottawa observers can be forgiven for drawing the relationship between the recent Hepatitis-C confidence vote and what seems to be a nice reward to MPs for their pathetic silence and obedience on the backbenches.

But the real proof that this trip is little more than a "junket" rests with the justifications given by the MPs themselves. Quebec Liberal MP Nick Discepola told the Hill Times that the trip provides a chance to resurrect the Canada-Italy Friendship Group which has fallen apart since the last election.

Trade Minister Sergio Marchi told the Sun News that "no country other than Canada could go on a state visit with a PM and bring nearly 20 Canadian MPs and Senators who trace their origins to Italy."

By employing this logic, then the next formal trade mission to the U.K. will be huge. Many of us can trace our origins to Anglo-Saxon old country roots.

Heck, we might even have to shut down Parliament because a huge chunk of MPs and Senators will surely want to fan out across the British Isles and build friendships and gather business cards.

Then there's Liberal caucus chairman Joe Fontana. "I don't think there's a Canadian out there who's going to begrudge Joe Fontana $800 or $1000 to go to Italy to be able to talk about Canadian business and creating jobs," he told Sun News.

Earth to Joe! In the real world outside of Ottawa, there a millions of Canadians who work hard to take home $800 every two weeks. You can bet that they begrudge the fact that MPs are junketing off to Italy.h

And the final zinger comes from an unidentified federal official who told the Toronto Star that "bringing so many MPs of Italian origin has really made the Italian government stand up and take notice of Canada."

So the next time we find ourselves in a trade dispute with our largest trading partner, the U.S., all MPs and Senators should immediately hop on a plane destined for Ronald Reagan National airport (formerly Washington National) so the U.S. can stand up and take notice of us!

Half-baked pasta leaves a horrible lump and feeling in your stomach. Half-baked trade junkets leave that same feeling in the stomach of taxpayers, not to mention their depleted wallets. This tortellini trade tour is nothing more than a fettuccini fiscal fiasco.