Cost of investigation into Nunavut MLA to exceed $275K

The ethics investigation into former Nunavut cabinet minister Fred Schell will cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars.

"I think the last of the invoices have arrived and we're just putting all those figures together and I can tell you right now that it's in excess of $275,000. And we don't budget for investigations so we have an internal funding issue to address," said John Quirke, Clerk for the Nunavut Legislative Assembly.

Schell resigned from cabinet last week just as MLAs were preparing to deal with a motion to have him removed.

The resignation follows the Integrity Commissioner's investigation, which found Schell violated the Integrity Act.

He was fined $10,000 and is required to make several apologies.

Schell remains the MLA for South Baffin

Quirke said his office will have to ask for more money to cover the cost of the investigation.