A confusing pay day

MLA pay is a question of transparency, accountability and democracy.

by Ricardo Acuña for Vue Weekly

Scott Hennig and the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) appear to have a problem with elected politicians being well-paid for the work they do. They seem to love nothing more than highlighting, whenever they get a chance, how much elected representatives get paid, what kinds of raises they get, the fact that they get good pensions and transitions allowances, and, most recently, that some of them in Alberta are getting paid $1000 per month for sitting on a committee that never meets.

The latter was revealed last week when the CTF released its annual list of "Teddy" award recipients for "government waste." On the list was Alberta's Standing Committee on Privileges and Elections, Standing Orders and Printing Committee. The committee is made up of 21 MLAs, each of whom receive $1000 per month for sitting on the committee. The problem is that the committee itself has not actually met or done anything since 2008. These 21 MLAs, therefore, have actually been getting an extra $1000 each month for doing absolutely nothing.

 

 

It's worth noting that, up until 2008, MLAs sitting on this particular committee were paid on a per meeting basis. Every time the committee met, they were paid for their time at that meeting. In 2008, when Premier Ed Stelmach ordered a review of MLA compensation, that formula was changed to a monthly stipend that did not depend on whether the committee met or not.

This is all just part of the ridiculously complicated remuneration system that is in place for members of Alberta's Legislative Assembly. All members get a base salary of $52 092 per year, plus an annual tax-free allowance of $26 046. Those base salaries are then augmented by special allowances and pay for extra duties and responsibilities that members have. For example, the premier gets an extra $81 312, and the speaker and cabinet ministers an extra $63 912. Opposition leaders, party whips and house leaders also get an extra allowance.

The committee structure exists on top of all of that, with members receiving an extra $1000 per month for every committee they sit on, up to a maximum of $3500 extra per month (chairs and deputy chairs of committees get an extra $1500 and $1250 per month for their work on these committees, also to a maximum of $3500.) In addition to all of this, there are also transportation, accommodation and meal allowances for MLAs from out of Edmonton and vehicle allowances for rural MLAs.

This structure results in a huge range of remuneration amounts for MLAs in Alberta, currently with a low end of around $130 000 per year to a high end of around $220 000. It also results in Albertans not really having a clue of how much or how MLAs are paid. The responses to the CTF release demonstrated that there are even many MLAs who have no idea what they are paid for and how much they are paid for it.

All of this to say that this system seriously needs to be overhauled in order to minimize waste and maximize transparency and accountability. Most Albertan's have their salaries defined, and do not receive extra pay for showing up at work-related meetings or sitting on committees at work. And the concept of a tax-free allowance as part of an MLAs salary should also be eliminated — it is an archaic concept that suggests that some Albertans are above contributing their fair share to the provinces various programs, services and infrastructure.

How hard would it be to simply set a fair salary amount for the various positions in the legislature and simply leave it at that? Set a salary for the premier, one for cabinet ministers and the speaker, one for the leader of the official opposition, one for the leaders of other parties, and one for back-bench MLAs and that's it. No extra pay for committees or meetings or any of it.

Although this is really no different than what the CTF is proposing, I do have one major point of divergence from their ongoing position on MLA salaries: I believe that MLAs deserve to be well-paid for what they do.

These are people who often put their lives on hold in order to make a contribution to the public interest. In the process they not only give up their evenings and weekends to sit in the legislature, attend committee meetings, meet with constituents and attend community events, but they also give up their privacy. MLAs are consistently in the spotlight, and are always required to be "on" when they leave their homes lest they be seen by a constituent or the media.

The Alberta Legislature should have the best possible people sitting in it, and those people should be reflective of the make-up of our province. These are the people we entrust with the passing of laws and setting of policies that impact every aspect of our lives and communities — they should be well-paid for what they do. The CTF's proposals would have our politicians so poorly paid as to make it impossible for anyone but the independently wealthy to consider running for public office. What would that do to the concept of a representative assembly that is reflective of the make-up of our province?

Public service at this level is one of the most demanding and important jobs out there, and the pay should reflect that. In a world where CEOs and executive vice presidents make tens of millions of dollars every year, how can anyone object to the people that make our laws, spend our collective money and ostensibly protect the public interest being paid such a pittance in comparison? Yes, the system by which MLA remuneration is a complete mess and needs to be reformed, but let's not make the mistake of buying into the CTF's anti-government rhetoric and promoting the myth that our MLAs are greedy and over-paid. The former hurts accountability and transparency, the latter hurts our democracy.

Website: http://www.ualberta.ca/parkland/

© Copyright 2012 Ricardo Acuña, All rights Reserved. Written For: StraightGoods.ca