Prime Minister Tim Houston will use his majority in the legislature next week to block a pay rise for MLAs recommended by an independent panel.
“This is not the time to adjust MLAs’ compensation,” Houston told reporters Tuesday.
“We have record high inflation, we have a number of problems facing the province.
Houston said candidates who were with him during last summer’s election were aware of the existing compensation when they signed on to be candidates. Opposition leaders indicated they would support the effort.
The remuneration review panel published its report on Tuesday. It calls for MLAs’ basic pay to go from $89,234.90 to $100,480.91 over the next three years. Basic pay has been frozen since 2013.
“It is of the utmost importance to democratic governance that no one be dissuaded from seeking public office solely because of perceived financial risk or certain disproportionate financial losses,” the commission wrote in its report.
“The bottom line is to expand the opportunity to attract community leaders to public office.”
The panel also called for the salaries of the Speaker of the House ($49,046.51), the Deputy Speaker ($24,523.25), the Leader of the Opposition ($49,046.51), all other recognized party leaders ($24,523.25 ) and cabinet ministers ($49,046.51) to remain the same.
Two of the three panel members recommended that the prime minister’s salary be reduced from $112,791.20 to $101,565.19. With the increase in basic salary for MLAs, the total salary of the Prime Minister will remain the same.
Binding recommendations to be blocked
Panel recommendations are mandatory. The reviews are supposed to take place after a provincial election — the last review in 2014 recommended no salary changes — and aim to remove politics from setting MLA salaries.
On Tuesday, however, Houston wasted no time in asking House Speaker Keith Bain to recall the legislature. Bain exercised his right to recall MLAs at short notice because he felt the matter was of public interest.
The MLAs will gather at Province House on July 26. The government will then introduce legislation to block wage increases.
The Liberals are planning an amendment
The former Liberal government made a preemptive move when it passed legislation in 2015 blocking the wage review for three years.
Current Liberal leader Zach Churchill was part of that government. He told reporters on Tuesday that MLA compensation was not the pressing issue to be discussed in the legislature.
“We have real emergencies right now in Nova Scotia,” he said.
Liberal Leader Zach Churchill on legislation to block MLA pay rises (Robert Short/CBC)
“Individual families struggling to put food on the table – this is an emergency for them. We have hospitals that are overwhelmed in the early stages of a whole new wave of COVID-19 and the government is not treating these problems as emergencies.”
Churchill said his faction would back legislation to block the pay rise, but that he would make an amendment to cut the prime minister’s pay by the percentage recommended by the panel.
It does not appear that the Prime Minister will oppose the amendment.
“I know Nova Scotians are struggling,” he said. “I am happy to show that type of leadership and I would expect the same leadership from the leaders of the opposition parties.”
NDP wants focus on other issues
NDP Leader Claudia Chander said her group would also support blocking the increase.
She told reporters in Halifax that the real emergency that needs to be discussed in the legislature is what’s happening to health care and the cost of living.
“I was just on the phone to a friend who was at the IWK for seven hours last night with her eight-year-old and left without being seen,” she said.
NDP Leader Claudia Chander on legislation to block MLA pay raises (Robert Short/CBC)
“And then I had to go to three pharmacies to find Advil because there’s some shortage of supplies. We have people who are very concerned that they don’t have access to health care in this province.”
Houston said the aim of next week’s session was to consider the panel’s recommendations, but his party was “happy to discuss any matter in Parliament”.
Ways to make Province House more inclusive
The review panel also presented several nonbinding recommendations designed to remove obstacles to a more diverse legislature.
He calls for greater efforts to fill the seat in the legislature designated for a Mi’kmaw representative. Since the establishment of the seat in 1992, it has remained vacant.
“Reviewed in good faith, we agree with Mi’kmaw Senator Dan Christmas that taking this position could do much good for both the people of Nova Scotia and the Mi’kma’ki,” the panel wrote.
There is also a non-binding recommendation that the legislature consider creating a fund to be made available to MLAs who are parents who need help with childcare costs.
“Our understanding is that the cost of such a fund would be small, but its benefits would have a greater impact on women and gender-diverse individuals and their decisions to run for office.”
Chander said politics remains a place where it’s “easiest to run if you’re older, if you’re whiter and if you’re richer” and MLAs need to find a way to make the legislature more reflective of society .
The panel also suggested that future work should be given more than just 30 days and explore all forms of compensation for MLAs.
Panelists included university professor Ajay Parasram and attorneys Bertley Francis and Kyle McIsaak.
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