Alberta premier, cabinet get 30 per cent pay hike

Taxpayers group demands rollback, citizens committee to study MLA wages

Last Updated: Friday, May 30, 2008 | 5:58 PM ET

CBC News

Alberta cabinet ministers, including the premier, have given themselves a pay raise of more than 30 per cent, adding between $42,000 and $54,000 to their annual salaries and spurring a taxpayer lobby group to demand rollbacks.

The increases followed a decision last week by the legislature's Standing Committee on Members Services, which agreed to pay the Liberal and NDP leaders and the Speaker an extra $42,000 a year for their work on various government committees.

An increase approved this week raises Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach's salary by $54,000 to $213,450. (CBC)

In an apparent reaction to the changes, the cabinet voted on Tuesday to hike their salaries by the same dollar amount, resulting in cabinet pay of $184,000. The cabinet members also increased the premier's pay by $54,000 to $213,450.

News of the increases was not released until Thursday.

"Clearly, the members services committee made a grave error in granting the additional committee pay," said Scott Hennig, Alberta director for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.

"However, cabinet should not have attempted to 'one-up' [Speaker] Kowalkski and [Liberal leader] Taft by giving themselves 30 per cent raises. Two wrongs don't make a right."

Canadian Taxpayers Federation Alberta director Scott Hennig is calling on the government to roll back wage increases for cabinet members ranging from $42,000 to $54,000, approved this week. (CBC)

The government should immediately roll back those increases and appoint an independent citizens committee to study salaries for members of the legislature, Hennig said.

Alberta MLAs just received a pay raise of 4.53 per cent on April 1, increasing salaries for backbenchers from $74,754 to $78,138.

One-third of the salary MLAs get is tax-free.

MLAs' wages are adjusted every year on April 1, like the province's minimum wage, and are based on Statistics Canada's average weekly wage index.