It seems only fair, as negotiations with the nurses begin, for Alberta MLAs to take a pay cut of $22,000
Author of the article:Don Braid • Calgary Herald
Publishing date:Jul 19, 2021 •
The Alberta Legislature in Edmonton, May 26, 2020.
PHOTO BY ED KAISER/POSTMEDIA
When UCP politicians say nurses are the best paid in Canada and must take a three-per-cent cut, they’re forgetting something.
Those very politicians are the nation’s most lavishly paid provincial politicians by a wide margin.
This has often been noted before. The information isn’t hard to find; every province publishes it.
Alberta MLAs from all parties earn a base annual pay of $120,936.
The next best paid, at $116,550, are Ontario legislators.
But the average base pay for members of all 10 provincial legislatures is $98,448, even including Alberta’s bloated compensation.
So it seems only fair, as negotiations with the nurses begin, for Alberta MLAs to take a pay cut of $22,000.
You’d think the UCP members would be proud to do this.
Will it happen? Let’s not be ridiculous.
Premier Jason Kenney’s MLAs took a five-per-cent cut in 2019. That still left them the highest paid in Canada by far, but it’s probably all the virtue-signalling we’ll get out of them.
Here’s the striking list of base political pay in all the provinces, from lowest paid to highest: Prince Edward Island, $74,394; New Brunswick, $85,000; Nova Scotia, $89,234; Newfoundland and Labrador, $95,357; Quebec, $95,704; Manitoba, $96,214; Saskatchewan, $100,068; British Columbia, $111,024; Ontario, $116,550; and Alberta, $120,936.
The Alberta debate over the five-per-cent cut was heated. The NDP agreed in principle, as long as the government didn’t use it as leverage to lower public sector wages.
Kenney took a 10-per-cent reduction, down to $186,000 a year. Full ministers lost five per cent, leaving them at $181,000, not much short of the boss.
The cuts at least recognized that Alberta political pay was absurdly above the national norm.
But today, it remains far too high for a province that could be about to cut pay for nurses and other crucial workers.
Many Albertans took pay cuts during the pandemic, if they kept their jobs at all. Politicians, who set their own pay, are uniquely protected.
Each province has different rules about expenses and top-ups to the base pay. It’s a rare politician anywhere who is only paid the starter salary.
Alberta MLAs, for instance, get an annual budget of $23,160 to rent housing in Edmonton, if they don’t already live there. There are generous allowances for travel, mileage and meals.
Members of Quebec’s National Assembly are paid well below the national average, but part of it is tax-free, a perk abolished in Alberta several years ago.
In a statement July 6, Finance Minister Travis Toews said: “We respect and appreciate the invaluable role they (nurses) have played in helping the province emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic. . .
But he added: “On average Alberta nurses make 5.6 per cent more than in other comparator provinces (he means the big ones).
“This costs Alberta approximately $141 million per year at a time when our finances are already stretched.”
Toews is comparing Alberta to Ontario, B.C. and, apparently, Quebec. MLAs’ base pay across those provinces averages $107,643.
So, UCP MLAs, would you settle for a cut of $13,000 from your base pay?
You could always cut the remaining $9,000 later, to get down to the national average.
Good MLAs work hard. They have endless meetings in the legislature and in their ridings. Long sessions are a grind. Today’s political culture is toxic.
But it’s basically the same job in every province. MLAs represent constituents and debate policy. Ministers and the premier run the government and get paid for the extra work.
The size of the province has little to do with it. Provinces with more people have more MLAs.
There’s no sane explanation for, say, the $35,000 MLA pay difference between New Brunswick and Alberta, or the $25,000 gap between Manitoba and Alberta.
The cost of bloated political compensation of course is tiny compared to health care costs.
But the legislature is where it all starts, every penny. If MLAs are really in this for the province, rather than just themselves, they will cough up.
Don Braid’s column appears regularly in the Herald.
Twitter: @DonBraid
Facebook: Don Braid Politics
When UCP politicians say nurses are the best paid in Canada and must take a three-per-cent cut, they’re forgetting something.
Those very politicians are the nation’s most lavishly paid provincial politicians by a wide margin.
This has often been noted before. The information isn’t hard to find; every province publishes it.
Alberta MLAs from all parties earn a base annual pay of $120,936.
The next best paid, at $116,550, are Ontario legislators.
But the average base pay for members of all 10 provincial legislatures is $98,448, even including Alberta’s bloated compensation.
So it seems only fair, as negotiations with the nurses begin, for Alberta MLAs to take a pay cut of $22,000.
You’d think the UCP members would be proud to do this.
Will it happen? Let’s not be ridiculous.
Premier Jason Kenney’s MLAs took a five-per-cent cut in 2019. That still left them the highest paid in Canada by far, but it’s probably all the virtue-signalling we’ll get out of them.
Here’s the striking list of base political pay in all the provinces, from lowest paid to highest: Prince Edward Island, $74,394; New Brunswick, $85,000; Nova Scotia, $89,234; Newfoundland and Labrador, $95,357; Quebec, $95,704; Manitoba, $96,214; Saskatchewan, $100,068; British Columbia, $111,024; Ontario, $116,550; and Alberta, $120,936.
The Alberta debate over the five-per-cent cut was heated. The NDP agreed in principle, as long as the government didn’t use it as leverage to lower public sector wages.
Kenney took a 10-per-cent reduction, down to $186,000 a year. Full ministers lost five per cent, leaving them at $181,000, not much short of the boss.
The cuts at least recognized that Alberta political pay was absurdly above the national norm.
But today, it remains far too high for a province that could be about to cut pay for nurses and other crucial workers.
Many Albertans took pay cuts during the pandemic, if they kept their jobs at all. Politicians, who set their own pay, are uniquely protected.
Each province has different rules about expenses and top-ups to the base pay. It’s a rare politician anywhere who is only paid the starter salary.
Alberta MLAs, for instance, get an annual budget of $23,160 to rent housing in Edmonton, if they don’t already live there. There are generous allowances for travel, mileage and meals.
Members of Quebec’s National Assembly are paid well below the national average, but part of it is tax-free, a perk abolished in Alberta several years ago.
In a statement July 6, Finance Minister Travis Toews said: “We respect and appreciate the invaluable role they (nurses) have played in helping the province emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic. . .
But he added: “On average Alberta nurses make 5.6 per cent more than in other comparator provinces (he means the big ones).
“This costs Alberta approximately $141 million per year at a time when our finances are already stretched.”
Toews is comparing Alberta to Ontario, B.C. and, apparently, Quebec. MLAs’ base pay across those provinces averages $107,643.
So, UCP MLAs, would you settle for a cut of $13,000 from your base pay?
You could always cut the remaining $9,000 later, to get down to the national average.
Good MLAs work hard. They have endless meetings in the legislature and in their ridings. Long sessions are a grind. Today’s political culture is toxic.
But it’s basically the same job in every province. MLAs represent constituents and debate policy. Ministers and the premier run the government and get paid for the extra work.
The size of the province has little to do with it. Provinces with more people have more MLAs.
There’s no sane explanation for, say, the $35,000 MLA pay difference between New Brunswick and Alberta, or the $25,000 gap between Manitoba and Alberta.
The cost of bloated political compensation of course is tiny compared to health care costs.
But the legislature is where it all starts, every penny. If MLAs are really in this for the province, rather than just themselves, they will cough up.
Don Braid’s column appears regularly in the Herald.
Twitter: @DonBraid
Facebook: Don Braid Politics
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