Shows & Blogs
Insiders
Featured Pages
Related Links


MLA Pay
Posted 5/3/2012 4:49:00 AM

One of the lines that stuck with me after the provincial election debate was Danielle Smith telling Premier Redford, “I don’t need a judge to tell me the right thing to do.”  This was over the issue of MLA’s compensation.  Smith had challenged the Premier to promise a pay cut on the spot; Redford preferred to wait for the report from retired Supreme Court Justice John Major.  While the ruling from the justice is in, the jury is still out on what will finally happen with MLA pay.  In its simplest terms, if I’m reading this right, while the Major report suggests no extra money for sitting on committees, his recommendation to raise the base pay from 78 thousand to 134 thousand covers some of the money they would have made on committees anyway.  The biggest problem for many is the notion that already highly paid politicians still could be getting a third of their salary tax-free.  Yes, they have job related expenses, but, a third of their salary tax-free?  Some of my callers, maybe needing more information, say that’s awfully close to being on the money for nothing committee.  Let me know what you think, below.

Note: If you wish to leave a comment, please keep it no longer than my editorial, unless you wish us to edit it. Your comment will not appear on the blog until it has been cleared by Bob.

 You have until 1 o’clock tomorrow morning to collect 630 CHED Insider Trading points by following the URL below & entering the code word: 242

 Click here to enter the code!
Posted By: Bob Layton  

Leave a comment:

showing all comments · Subscribe to comments
Comment Like
  • 20
  1. Dan posted on 05/03/2012 07:05 AM This comment was edited by a moderator at 07:09 AM on 05/03/2012
    Barely a week after the election and the MLAs are talking money and raises. Funny that none of this came up before the election. The only person who brought up money prior to election was Danielle Smith and I'm sure she would have stuck to the cuts she promised. This government is such a joke. No wonder you get low voter turnout!

    Bob replies: As you know, this was scheduled to come out now, and that had been made plain during the campaign.
  2. Eileen B posted on 05/03/2012 08:45 AM
    Going to relate a little story here. The week before the election there was an all candidates forum. One of the candidates had committed to taking a 35k pay cut. A highly respected and successful local business man approached that candidate following the forum. To my astonishment he informed that candidate, "You had my vote until you mentioned that pay cut. If you don't think you are worth anymore than that then I don't want you as my MLA". I know someone who was just elected as a first time MLA. That family will undergo huge changes and stresses, not the least of which will be separation. Knowing the individual involved, family time will be limited even when at home, as the needs of his constituents are many and he will undertake to hear every one of them. That's why he ran for office. Are there some who are lazy incompetents? Yup. Do we pay according to the lowest common denominator? I don't think so.
  3. fred posted on 05/03/2012 08:56 AM
    Well Alberta you certainly asked for it, now do not be disappointed with what you got.
    The rest of us will have to bid our time in silence, because we have already learned that talking to this group is a waste of breath
    1. Bob $ posted on 05/04/2012 09:17 AM
      @fred Amen Fred!!! Go Wildrose Go!! Whahoooooooo!!!!!!
  4. Rick posted on 05/03/2012 09:07 AM
    Rather than gift the MLAs one of their salary as expense money, they should be required to complete expense claims like the rest of the working world does!!
    1. The Infidel - Mr.John posted on 05/03/2012 10:09 AM
      @Rick Amen Brother!!!
    2. Bob $ posted on 05/03/2012 10:18 AM
      @Rick I know of people that work for Revenuer Canada or "whatever" it is called today, that have to cover their road expenses out of their own pockets, excluding rooms and airline stuff,...and then submit a bill to get this money back.
      If people like Bev Oda down there in Kissassalottawa had to do that, she wouldn't "feel" so RICH to spend frivolously,...else she might not get it back or wind up paying the difference out of their own pockets.
      I have no problem with them staying at a nice hotel for these road trips, but I have a problem with them not having any valid reason for being there at all in the first place.
      The stupidity of these meetings is lost when this spending goes on,..perfect example,..G20 spending of over $1 Billion dollars on a meeting that was supposed to discuss and counter wasteful government budgets....like we have here monthly in Canada-a-a-a-auh!!!
    show more replies
  5. BeeBee posted on 05/03/2012 10:44 AM
    typical politicians, back track, double talk, dupe the public! nothing has changed, called a re-shuffle increase!
  6. David W. Lincoln posted on 05/03/2012 11:32 AM
    I see that Joan Crockett raised the issue of the tax free portion of the salary doled out to MLAs.

    This sounds too much like the shell game, so that our attention is diverted from what is important.
    1. The Infidel - Mr.John posted on 05/04/2012 09:19 AM
      @David W. Lincoln It's always been a shell game ever since the PCs have been in power, David!!!
  7. Allen posted on 05/03/2012 11:48 AM
    Wow nice raise! The company I work for has frozen our wages since 2008. I really don't know why anyone is suprised about this. I've stated this before. The definition of insanity is doing the same things over and over and expecting a different result. Too bad the rest of the Albertans not connected to the oil patch have to live with the poor uninformed misguided choices of those that are still living high on the hog. Enjoy your PC'S. But say goodbye to your country. It's being sold out from beneath you.
    1. Bob $ posted on 05/04/2012 09:31 AM
      @Allen I said that same thing here Allen: about the "insanity" thing too.
      It is really going to be interesting and entertaining to watch Alison "Nanny" Redford squirm out of this one. It is amazing how many times she painted herself into a corner before and during the election, with her statements, and now it's time to pay the Piper!
      I understand that her advisors get almost as much as she does as Premier,...she should really start asking for a refund,...along with the $40,000 from all of her "NO MEETING" committee members.
      What was it she said: "Those who don't pay the money back will be kicked out of my caucus, and sent to the back benchers!"
      Yeah,...well,....we'll see about that!
  8. Ruth Laskey posted on 05/03/2012 05:28 PM
    No one should get any salary, tax-free. Most of their expenses are covered. There should finally be an end to it, here in Alberta, and anyplace else that may have this tax-payer's gift.
  9. GFF posted on 05/03/2012 05:45 PM
    The money-for-nothing committee, I think, has got to be on of the most shameful revelatons of late. One can't help but wonder, how many more hidden wasted money is there? The report from retired Supreme Court Justice John Major is out of line. Us working folk are told time and again, that we need to save for retirement. Put money away, don't over spend, etc. Why do the same rules not hold for persons that choose to go into politics? Do they not have to file there taxes, including expenses, the same as the rest of us? We have to work and put money into pensions for a future time in our lives. I may be missing something but I am tired of paying politicians to take my hard earned money. They sit in cabinet and argue like four year olds, then walk away with hundreds of thousands of tax payer monies.
    1. The Infidel - Mr. John posted on 05/04/2012 09:53 AM
      @GFF We should all be VERY GRATEFUL for Scott Henning and the folks down there at the Canadian Taxpayers Association. This group has been exposing these rip-offs in Government both provincially and federally for years. I personally support this group and I would encourage everyone to do the same. And you PCers,...well, why not instead of wasting your money on your PC memberships, donate that money to the CTA and get some value for your money out of their assistance. Go Canadian Taxpayers Association,...a truly Canadian "VOICE" for the Canadian Taxpayers,...keep dropping their shorts there Scott!!!
  10. Iain Hunter posted on 05/04/2012 09:30 AM
    It seems to me the recommendations of the Judge is more a justification for high Judicial salaries than a realistic recommendation for those of our representatives. Perhaps we should reduce judges salaries to bring them into line with those of the MLAs.
  11. Raymond Despins posted on 05/04/2012 11:40 AM This comment was edited by a moderator at 08:14 AM on 05/05/2012
    John Major cannot understand why Premier Redford is questioning the recommended pay increase; after all she would still be paid a lower salary to that of some of her employees such as her Chief of Staff at over one quarter of a million dollars and her Deputy at over half a million dollars.
    What John Major cannot get his head around is that Premier Redford is not underpaid but rather that top civil servants are grossly overpaid.
    The whole episode shows that both Redford and Major are living in a dream world. Premier Redford for choosing the Former Justice to head the Compensation Review and the Former Justice for making the recommendation that he did. Both are living in a world completely divorced from the realities of ordinary hard-working Albertans.
  12. The Infidel - Mr.John posted on 05/07/2012 08:30 AM
    Can anyone comprehend how the Deputy Premier is paid more than double the rate of the Premier,...because I sure can't??? Looks like somebody should be in for a very big pay reduction,....DO YOU ALL THINK???
    Another one of Nanny Red's....."Well,...I'll just paint myself into a corner right here!!,...Oh,..wait, there's no more corners left!!!" Oooooopsie!!!
  13. Glen S.R. Woytuck posted on 05/08/2012 02:49 AM
    Seriously, ENOUGH raises for MLA's already. I thought the reason to enter politics was to make a better province, not a fatter wallet. Perhaps if MLA wages were SEVERELY cut, we would actually get BETTER representation, because we wouldn't get gold-diggers entering the race. (Kind of like a rich man pretending to be poor while searching for a wife to avoid the gold-diggers.) Most workers in the world are not getting raises even equal to the rate of inflation, while the snout in the trough keep filling it up. (I'd make ALOT more too if I could set my own wage...)
showing all comments

Recent Blog Entries

BLOG ARCHIVE
<<May 2013>>
SunMonTueWedThuFriSat
2829301234
567891011
12131415161718
19202122232425
2627282930311
2345678