VICTORIA (CP) - British Columbia lawmakers are being urged to vote themselves a substantial pay hike and to give themselves back a pension plan. An independent panel set up by the B.C. Liberal government has recommended MLAs get an increase in basic salary to $98,000, up 29 per cent from the current $76,000. The panel has made 18 recommendations, including scrapping the MLA Group RRSP in favour of reinstating a defined benefit pension plan and the establishment of an independent tribunal to review MLA compensation every second parliament beginning in 2013.
MLAs are expected to vote on the recommendation during the current spring sitting and if approved, the pay increase would go into effect retroactively to April 1. The panel was made up of Vancouver lawyer Sue Paish, former B.C. judge Josiah Wood and University of British Columbia business professor Dr. Sandra Robinson. Premier Gordon Campbell appointed the arms-length review in January. The move followed a public uproar in late 2005 when MLAs voted themselves a 15-per-cent increase that was quickly repealed. Just before Christmas, MPP's in Ontario voted themselves a 25-per-cent pay increase, boosting their basic salaries to $110,000.
No comments:
Post a Comment