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A city politician who has missed three consecutive council meetings has informed her colleagues she will be absent from next week’s multi-day budget deliberations in order to “spend time with penguins and icebergs” in Antarctica.

In a memo obtained by Postmedia, longtime Ward 13 Coun. Diane Colley-Urquhart said the trip to the Earth’s southernmost continent, “has been planned for a long time” and will be transformative.

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“A once in a lifetime experience will take me away from Council the last couple weeks of November,” began Colley-Urquhart in the emailed note addressed to”colleagues” and dated Nov. 17.

“After flying into Buenos Aires and exploring the City, I will embark on an educational expedition voyage on board a ship deep into the Antarctica to spend time with penguins and icebergs,” wrote the politician, who was first elected in a 2000 byelection and won her seat in last month’s municipal election by a wide margin.