Leong: Politicians need to stop weaponizing their own paycheques

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Once upon a time, I would have lauded politicians turning down a raise.

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Now, all I see is cynical manoeuvring.

In this civic election year, local representatives at city hall are jockeying to position themselves as the best people able to save you a buck.

Council members have brought forward competing proposals, to be discussed Tuesday, to turn down a pay increase they’ve already started receiving.

They might as well be parading outside the Municipal Complex carrying brightly coloured placards emblazoned with big, bold words that say VOTE FOR ME.

On one side, there’s Mayor Jyoti Gondek, who called a pay freeze a “meaningful action that underscores our commitment to service over self-interest, and to prudent governance.”

On the other side, there’s Coun. Sonya Sharp, who said “it is irresponsible and tone-deaf to accept these types of automatic increases, especially in today’s uncertain economy.”

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Joining Sharp were councillors Andre Chabot, Terry Wong and Dan Maclean.

Given the timing of these moves, it’s so terribly difficult to take any of them seriously.

They had four years to re-examine how they are paid and they waited until an election to finally make a move?

It’s not as if they’re getting obscenely rich of our dime.

Currently, city council pay packages vary according to a formula based on Albertans’ average weekly earnings as recorded by Statistics Canada. They make in the neighbourhood of $125,000 per year and this time, the raise amounts to an increase of some three per cent. And in the event the average wage were to fall, that of city council members would follow accordingly.

This is very clear process meant to take the decision out of politicians’ hands. Recently, an independent committee of citizens reviewed this practice and recommended politicians carry on in this manner — a suggestion city council accepted.

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MLAs grapple with proposed pay raise

Meanwhile, in Edmonton, the provincial NDP got twisted in knots last week trying to make an MLA pay raise look like a scandal.

A 10-member committee with a small UCP majority voted for a raise retroactive to the start of 2025. The increase amounts to 2.3 per cent, calculated based on the average increase in public sector pay.

The base pay of an MLA is slightly less than what a member of Calgary city council makes — although there are top-ups for being in cabinet.

MLAs have had their income frozen or cut several times over the last 12 years.

Committee chair and UCP MLA Shane Getson argued the pay bump would help politicians play catchup and maintain a certain level of attractiveness for the job, while Opposition MLA Christina Gray blasted the move as a something to address an “affordability crisis for politicians” instead of that of ordinary Albertans.

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Much like at Calgary city council, this seems to be more about performative politics than actual policy.

Outside of truly dire economic circumstances, which would require an equally drastic response to cut public spending, how exactly does a pay freeze or pay cut for politicians as an isolated act help the average person in their everyday lives?

Such a move won’t change commitments in labour agreements, nor will it magically bring down the price of goods and services needed for government to do its work.

While the symbolism of a pay cut for politicians is nice, it would be far more useful if elected officials did their jobs: delivering the public services we need and using our tax dollars wisely in delivering them; keeping growth of public sector pay in check; and creating the right conditions for communities, families and businesses to thrive.

These are not trivial pursuits. Politicians do work most of us don’t care to — and if they’re doing it right, it’s hard.

We should pay them what is fair and what will eliminate the effect of influence peddling. In turn, instead of obsessing with the optics surrounding the size of their paycheques, they should devote all their time and effort to public service and properly manage our collective affairs for the betterment of all.

If they do this badly, we get to fire them.

This doesn’t seem like too much to ask. And yet …

rleong@postmedia.com

Join Ricky on Bluesky and on X: @RickyLeongYYC

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