Everyone enjoys getting a raise and having a few extra dollars to spend on something new and our elected officials will be doing just that. This week Ed Stelmach and his cabinet got a huge increase. His 23-member cabinet voted on May 27 to boost their pay by $42,000 to $184,000 and Stelmach himself received an increase of $54,000 bringing his salary to $213,450. This 30 per cent increase was voted on behind closed doors and was not announced until May 29.
Why a government would make important financial decisions behind closed doors is beyond me. It astounds me that something like this could happen.
The Canadian Taxpayers Federation didn’t agree with the government’s process and called them to appoint an independent citizens’ committee to study the ministers’ salaries. A study is needed to see what other levels of government and other provinces premiers and ministers are paid. Stelmach now makes more than Ontario premier Dalton McGuinty, who manages a province nearly four times as large as Alberta. Stelmach is now the highest-paid premier in Canada.
A study might cost the taxpayers money but in the end the government earns the trust of the province by being forthcoming and open on what they are doing and not make decisions behind closed doors.
In September of 2007 the Town of Ponoka approved a raise for council members. They did this in open council after an extensive study had been completed. The citizens committee reviewed their current honorariums and fees and suggested that the town needed an increase. The committee took into account the policy from seven different surrounding communities that were of similar size. They debated FIN-001-007 in open council and even took an extra 15-minute recess during the meeting to review the new policy once more before they voted on it. The committee found that Ponoka was much lower then their study groups and as of Nov. 1 the Mayor of Ponoka makes $19,188 per year compared to the Mayor of Lacombe at $25,584 per year.
An October 1998 decision of the Special Select Committee on Members’ Services states that the MLA salaries are adjusted annually on April 1. It is based on the percentage increase or decrease for the previous calendar year as reported by Statistics Canada in the average weekly earnings for Alberta. This year on April 1 MLAs received a pay raise of 4.53 per cent increasing their salaries for backbenchers from $74,754 to 78,138. One third of the salary received by MLAs is tax-free. Every year the MLAs get a slight raise, which is not uncommon for an employee to get an annual raise.
However, approving a 30 per cent raise behind closed doors in unacceptable. The Alberta government should have allowed for public debate in this matter. The tax payers of Alberta are the ones who are paying their salary, should they not have a say in how much the ministers receive? One can argue how hard ministers and MLAs work that is not where the problem is, the outcry is the process. Does the government have something to hide? When being grilled by reporters Stelmach said “It is an adjustment-I stand by the adjustment.” He needs to give the public a better reason other than ‘I stand by the adjustment’ as to why this government decided to hike up their salaries.
In the spring election Stelmach dominated winning 72 seats with their next closest opponent the Liberals earning nine seats. In that election Stelmach promised change that works for Albertans, with the reaction of some of the public thus far this raise is not change that works for Albertans. Is it really wise to announce a huge raise two months into your term as premier? The unions and nurses are suffering and need support. Ponoka Composite High School is in dire need of repair and needs to be modernized and there is so much more that needs to be addressed. It is time that our elected officials, with their hard earned raises, start to put others’ needs first and get to work.