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MLA's Pay Hike A Matter of Timing

By Elaine Macdonald

Never mind the fact the MLA’s are receiving a 10.1 % pay hike on the very first day of a brand new term in office.  Nevermind that at the end of the four year term,  most of us will have forgotten these MLA’s got a much larger pay hike than the average BC resident . The fact that it was announced just after the election is the problem. 

Leading up to the provincial election in 2001, you may recall it was Gordon Campbell saying that if he were elected there would be a 5% cut in all of the MLA’s salaries. That announcement came before the election because its good news.  When it comes to bad news (like a raise of  this magnitude) timing is very important, best to wait till after the votes have been counted. 

Imagine a party saying "If we're elected,  we're going to use your money to give ourselves a big fat 10% pay hike."  That would  guarantee the ballot boxes would be stuffed with votes...for someone else.

The average wage will now be $75,400 dollars.  That's $6900 dollars more than MLA's made before the latest election and they're talking like the increase should be hiigher.  

So, expect a committee to come back with a report real fast saying we need to pay our MLA’s more money. The pitch will go like this, “well other provinces pay more” and the immediate question should be "Do they DO more?"
The entire matter will be given  a rubber stamp and we will simply get the bill in the mail.
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