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The National Assembly is not sitting in the first two weeks of March, so that its members can supposedly attend to what the Assembly calendar calls (wink) “work in the riding.”

Nobody checks on the MNAs to make sure they actually are working in their ridings, however. And when they return to the Assembly after their March break, some of them are always sporting sun tans, as if they spent the time looking for constituents on golf courses in Florida.

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Those tanned MNAs have to settle for bronze, however, while six of Premier Philippe Couillard’s cabinet ministers have struck gold. Along with the premier, they’ve won an all-expenses-paid junket — excuse me, “mission” — to Europe this week.

Five ministers left with Couillard on Monday for a five-day visit to Paris and Bordeaux, which incidentally is the world’s most famous wine-producing region. A sixth minister is on a separate itinerary.

Counting the premier, that’s more than one-quarter of the 26-member cabinet, plus staffers, who are travelling to Europe, after the government has been telling Quebecers they must pay more for less public service so that it can balance its budget.