Exorbitant ticket prices at Government's Women in Public Life conference last week prevented those who could have benefited from the event from doing so, a Shadow Minister claims

The conference, which ran October 17 - 20, had notable speakers such as First Lady Bernadette Christie of the Bahamas and Queen's Counsel Cherie Booth, wife of Britain's prime minister Tony Blair.

But in a letter written to The Royal Gazette, Shadow Minister of Health and Social Services Kim Young has slammed the conference.

"The Government is hailing the Woman in Public Life Conference a global success, but was it really just a political PR (public relations) exercise?" she questioned.

Mrs. Young, who did not attend the conference, questioned the admission price and said it excluded women who could not afford it.

"Five hundred dollars was a lot of money to pay," said Mrs. Young last night. "The women who could have benefited from the conference were unable to."

She also suggested that, because registration numbers were not as high as anticipated, civil servants were drafted in to boost attendance.

"The Government had to 'rent a crowd of civil servants' by paying their admission fees to make it look well attended," Mrs. Young said. "Where is this money coming from? How much did it cost to run?"

While she admitted that she had no idea how much money came out of Government's coffers for the conference, Mrs. Young said she felt it could have been money better spent in other parts of the community.

"What about parenting seminars for women who need them? What about those with poor academic skills, doomed to stay in lower paying jobs for life?" she asked.

And the Shadow Minister claimed that resolutions which were reached at the Public Life conference were the same as those included in the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women. According to her, had Bermuda signed up to the Convention as promised in the 2001 Throne Speech, the Public Life conference would not have been necessary in the first place.

"Those thousands of dollars could have been used in other ways to support women in their drive for equality, respect and elimination of discrimination," she said.

And while she said she believed the Government had good intentions, she said she felt it was just too expensive for those who could have benefited most.

But Tourism Minister Renee Webb, who oversaw the conference, said she refused to be drawn into a war of words.

"I can't entertain comments from anybody who did not attend," she said.

However, she denied Mrs. Young's claim that Government pumped up the numbers and said that attendees actually got great value for their money.

"We subsidised everything for everybody. It actually cost $835 to attend the conference and we only charged $500."

Ms Webb said that while civil servants were given the opportunity to attend the conference for professional development, Government also sponsored students from the Island's senior schools and the Bermuda College.

She said Government had received nothing but praise for the conference, including, according to Ms Webb, a letter from Mrs. Young's fellow MP, Patricia Gordon-Pamplin.

"Not only are Mrs. Young's claims unfounded, they are not substantiated by facts," Ms Webb said.

"Not only did she chose not to speak at the conference, but she decided not to show up as well."