Are we getting our money’s worth?

By Ivan Morgan

There are rumblings as I write this that the government is going to ask the House of Assembly to vote a $24,000 raise for all MHAs, as per the recommendations of a 2024 House committee report. I cannot imagine any elected person could be that stupid.

The report and recommendations were all public and by the book. The committee head said not giving them a raise could be bad for democracy. Brilliant theoretical argument; absolutely clueless political one.
Does anyone think MHAs deserve a hefty raise? You and I have seen our own share of hefty raises: in the price of food, the price of power and heat and almost everything else. Not many of us have seen much in the way of pay increases or a drop in taxes, which would allow us to meet those rising costs of living.
Most of us don’t get to decide what we make. Most of us work for what we can get. Elected members of the House of Assembly, however, set their own salary. The House is supreme and therefore they decide what they are worth.

Before anyone gets too self righteous, how much do you think you should earn a year? Everyone deserves to be paid well and want for nothing. On the street however, lots of us are hurting.
Do MHAs deserve a pay raise? I’ll leave that up to you, mostly because it is supposed to be our decision. They work for us. We hire them. That’s a fact.

MHA compensation is a sticky issue. Almost 20 years ago there was a House spending scandal of epic proportions. Politicians went to jail.

Justice Derek Green, a Supreme Court judge, was asked by then Premier Danny Williams to examine the matter, explain how it happened and make recommendations to prevent it from happening again. That report was a very good read. It’s still a good read. It showed what happens when there is no oversight. Sadly, today it’s all but forgotten.

Green called for total openness, oversight and transparency. Sunlight is the best disinfectant. Thanks to Justice Green, we now have this. Sort of.

I say that because although we have oversight and transparency, the spirit of Green’s report is no longer alive. Recently a bunch of Liberal government ministers were found to have quietly paid themselves extra cash on their way out the door, on top of their already existing severance package. Quietly. Behind semi-closed doors. We know because they were caught, not because they told us.
Now we hear MHAs may give themselves a handsome raise to go with their handsome pension plan and a lot of other perks. At least this time we know it.

Will they do it? There are arguments pro and con.

One argument says a higher pay scale will attract better qualified folks. I don’t subscribe to that thinking. One shouldn’t get into politics for the money.

Another argument says they deserve it. I leave that to the voter to decide. It’s supposed to be their decision.
Interestingly, the man who lost the last election, then Premier John Hogan, opposed it and said under him it wouldn’t happen. To me those are good instincts. Right or wrong, now is not the time.
I would suggest that, given the state of this province, given the state of our finances, given the state of the poor services we pay a fortune for with our taxes, now would be a very, very bad time to approve any pay increase, let alone a sizable one.

Now is the time for them to help us, not to help themselves.

Ivan Morgan can be reached at ivan.morgan@gmail.com