Welcome To British Columbia Land Of MLA Milk And Honey

05/25/09 11:24am

by Matthew Good (CHARTattack)

I'm late on this subject, though it has been one that friends and I have been repeatedly discussing since the end of last month. For those of you non-British Columbians out there, this might not matter to you all that much, but being a citizen of this province, and someone who lives on Vancouver's lower east side, it's enough to make your head spin around several times in utter disbelief.

Prior to the provincial legislature's current session ending for summer break, our elected representatives decided it best to vote themselves a 29 per cent pay increase, making their annual salary $98,000 a year, with cabinet members receiving even more. They also voted to reinstate a pension plan. The premier will see a 54 per cent increase to his salary, making it $186,000 a year, supposedly so that he can return to Maui in the summer to drink and drive some more and afford to be able to post bail. In all, the premier will see an increase of $89,000 to his salary, an increase that is twice what the average British Columbian makes in a year alone.

This province has the fastest growing gap between the poor and the wealthy than any other Canadian province, the highest poverty rate and the highest poverty rate for seniors. And yet, while voting themselves a raise, they decided not to increase the minimum wage to $10.

The NDP's reaction? They would donate that portion of their salary that constitutes the pay raise to charity. Interestingly, there is an opt-out clause in the bill that states that if a member of the legislative assembly does not accept the pay raise within seven days of it becoming law that they forfeit receiving it no matter the length of their time in office. One assumes that that money would be recycled back into legislative costs, such as ordering pizzas, the bill for which is in the tens of thousands of dollars for this year alone. But on principle, it seems to me that any public official with any integrity, and God knows they're hard to find, would simply opt out and then, when the legislature reconvenes, address the point of just where that money is to be spent.

Of course, due diligence is required of those who live in ridings represented by NDP MLAs who have vowed to donate the money, because for all they know it could be little more than talk. If anything, constituents should demand accounting from their MLAs as to when and where the funds are being donated to ensure that it isn't just talk.

In the end, and in the annals of the absolute circus sideshow that B.C. politics has always been, this is just another example of the mismanagement of this province and the complete inability to realistically address its
fundamental problems. Because while MLAs are more than happy to take their money and run, there are people living on the streets down here that continue to be neglected, among a long list of other things.

So well done you “public servants" to the people of this province. Before running again, might I suggest you abandon public service altogether for something in the private sector that will afford you your blatant love affair with greed rather than you insulting your constituents further by pretending that you actually entered public life because you give a damn about the people, most of whom do not have the luxury of voting themselves pay raises. And that goes for Vancouver city council as well.

The following feature is from the July 2007 issue of Chart Magazine. To purchase the issue, go to the CHARTattack Shop.