Freeze replaces 7.25% pay hike

An independent legislative committee reversed its decision last week to give pay raises of 7.25 per cent to the auditor general, ethics commissioner and other legislative officers, and instead brought in a pay freeze.

“We made a mistake. We’ve admitted to it and we’re going to try to fix it and move on,” said Denise Woollard, chairwoman of the standing committee on legislative offices, which voted unanimously Tuesday to bring in a pay freeze.

“When we see something that shouldn’t have been done in that way, we will look at it again, revisit it, change it, go back, fix it and acknowledge that we made a mistake.”

The committee reconvened Tuesday after critics lambasted the NDP committee members for voting in favour of the 7.25-percent hike during an economic downturn. The initial pay raise included a 2.25-per-cent cost-of-living increase, topped with a fiveper-cent hike.

Five NDP members of the committee voted in favour of the raise last Thursday after a closed-door discussion on the issue, while four opposition members voted against. Some suggested limiting the pay raise to cost of living. That idea wasn’t revisited.

“The Wildrose is very pleased that we saw a reversal of a decision that didn’t put Albertans and Alberta taxpayers first,” said Wildrose and committee member Nathan Cooper.

Woollard said the raise was initially approved because it was standard practice.

The pay freeze affects the salaries of the auditor general, Alberta’s chief electoral officer, ombudsman and public interest commissioner, information and privacy commissioner and ethics commissioner. Their salaries range from $148,000 to $273,000.