It will cost Alberta taxpayers more than $5 million to say goodbye to 20 MLAs who are not running in the provincial election.
Former premier Ralph Klein scrapped a costly pension plan in 1993 and replaced it with a transition allowance that gives members of the legislative assembly three months' pay for every year they were in office.
Most of the 20 MLAs leaving provincial politics are Progressive Conservatives, but there is one Liberal (Maurice Tougas in Edmonton-Meadowlark) and one New Democrat (Raj Pannu in Edmonton-Strathcona).
Almost half have been in office for 15 years, which boosts the price of the payouts. Some former cabinet ministers such as Victor Doerksen, who represented Red Deer-South for four terms, stand to receive almost $500,000.
"People will complain on one hand, look at the amount of money they make and look at the severances they get and then criticize the pool of candidates that are out there, saying why don't we have better people?" said political scientist Duane Bratt.
He said the payments are a way to attract quality candidates to politics, considering that they must give up their careers and privacy.
"It is truly a balancing act, and I think the transition allowance is the right platform. I think there could be some tweaking of the numbers."
Bratt suggested capping the maximum allowance that could be paid to an outgoing incumbent, but pointed out the payouts are still lower than if the pension plan was still in place.
"Because the pensions just go on and on until you die and then there are survivors' benefits and those can reach extremely high numbers so the transition allowance is a reasonable compromise," he said.
Any incumbent who is defeated in Monday's provincial election will also receive a transition allowance.
When the election was called, the Progressive Conservatives had 60 seats in the legislature, the Liberals 16, the NDP four and the Wildrose Alliance one, with one Independent and one vacant seat.
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Alberta Votes 2008 »
- It's 'Ed's Empire' after Alberta election sweep
- Political observers in Alberta are calling it remarkable and opposition politicians are wondering what hit them after Ed Stelmach guided his Conservative party Monday to one of its biggest majorities ever.
- Low voter turnout in Alberta election being questioned
- As Premier Ed Stelmach and Alberta Conservatives savour their sweeping election victory, some people are raising a nagging concern: why so few people bothered to vote.
- Albertans elect historic 11th straight Tory government
- Voters in Alberta stuck with tried-and-true blue, giving the Progressive Conservative party an unprecedented 11th consecutive majority government in Monday's provincial election.
- Political tide turns in Edmonton
- Alberta Progressive Conservative Leader Ed Stelmach has proven true to his word, putting the "Ed" back in Edmonton.
- Conservatives' Calgary fortress resists change
- The Progressive Conservatives' fortress in Calgary stood strong as the party took 18 of the city's 23 ridings Monday night.
Riding Profiles
More Alberta Votes Headlines »
- It's 'Ed's Empire' after Alberta election sweep
- Political observers in Alberta are calling it remarkable and opposition politicians are wondering what hit them after Ed Stelmach guided his Conservative party Monday to one of its biggest majorities ever.
- Low voter turnout in Alberta election being questioned
- As Premier Ed Stelmach and Alberta Conservatives savour their sweeping election victory, some people are raising a nagging concern: why so few people bothered to vote.
- Albertans elect historic 11th straight Tory government
- Voters in Alberta stuck with tried-and-true blue, giving the Progressive Conservative party an unprecedented 11th consecutive majority government in Monday's provincial election.
- Political tide turns in Edmonton
- Alberta Progressive Conservative Leader Ed Stelmach has proven true to his word, putting the "Ed" back in Edmonton.
- Conservatives' Calgary fortress resists change
- The Progressive Conservatives' fortress in Calgary stood strong as the party took 18 of the city's 23 ridings Monday night.
