There is no doubt the demands on an MLA are immense. It’s not a job for those who want to be home every night in time to catch the last half-hour of Oprah.
The job is demanding, the hours are long, and, it is undoubtedly one of the most stressful jobs going. And, they’re probably due for a raise.
But 29 per cent, plus a return to the gold-plated pension plan that the Liberals badgered the NDP enough about 10 years ago to force a change? Come on.
I don’t have any problem with MLAs getting a raise but slurping up a 29 per cent increase when everyone else in the province feasts on considerably less is too much to handle. The MLAs seem to have forgotten the uproar when they suggested a 15 per cent raise for themselves shortly after getting elected in 2005. Perhaps the feeling now is that, in the middle of a term, voters will have forgotten the lining of pockets come election time in 2009.
This time around the Liberals are using the cop-out that an independent panel recommended the increase. That may be so, but it doesn’t say anywhere that the panel’s recommendation has to be followed.
I don’t want to crap on the panel, too much, but I think a slightly larger panel would have worked better. As it was, the panel consisted of two top Vancouver lawyers and a university professor. My suggestion would be to add a teacher, a nurse, and a log truck driver to that panel. It probably would have come up with some different recommendations.
The panel did some good work and some questionable work. It compared what other MLAs are making across the country. Fair enough, but it should have been noted that Ontario MLAs just gave themselves a 25 per pay raise. Leap-frogging salaries is an old trick and one which several schools superintendents got in trouble for a few years ago.
There has also been talk about playing ‘catch up,’ as MLAs haven’t had a substantial raise in years. It’s ironic that this government was pretty adamant that it wouldn’t allow teachers to play ‘catch up’ when negotiating their contract.
The panel also trotted out a survey that, among other things, showed how little the public knows about MLAs and how much they get paid. That may be true, but it’s hardly a reason to give them a raise. I’m sure that not a lot of people actually know what a newspaper editor does in order to get the paper on the street, but if I used that as a reason to ask for a raise the laughing would be echoing off the walls at Black Press headquarters for quite some time.
As I mentioned earlier, the MLAs could simply reject the independent panels recommendations and perhaps give themselves a raise that is more in line with what other workers in this province have received. Bear in mind, a backbench MLA with no extras, makes $76,100. Put in perspective, that’s almost double what the average wage is in this province. Yes the job is tough and demanding, but a base rate of $76,100 isn’t horrible.
The other aspect of this, other than MLAs voting themselves a raise a our expense, is the recommendations are retroactive to April 1 of this year. MLAs simply shouldn’t be allowed to vote on their own pay raises. Any pay raises voted on by a sitting legislature should take effect after the next election. That way MLAs aren’t directly giving themselves a pay raise.
I guess the biggest part of this that sticks in my craw is that this all smacks of ‘do as I say not as I do.’ MLAs haven’t moved on calls to increase the minimum wage to $10/hour (a 25 per cent increase), but vote themselves a 29 per cent increase. That’s just not right.