N.B. MLAs in no rush to review lucrative pension changes
New Brunswick politicians are not being moved by any sense of urgency to revisit the issue of MLA pension increases after a CBC review found they quietly and dramatically hiked their retirement benefits earlier this year.
MLAs of all sides voted to change how they were paid last April just as New Brunswick was witnessing record-level flooding.
A CBC analysis shows some longtime MLAs will see their pensions nearly double.
Justice Patrick Ryan, who wrote an independent report on revising MLA salaries and benefits, recommended the change. But he told the CBC that he expected the pension boost would be temporary because MLAs would then do a broader review of their pensions.
But so far that hasn't happened and government house leader Michael Murphy is non-committal on when it will.
"We're examining all of those matters throughout the year and in the coming months," Murphy said.
Murphy pointed out that both political parties in the legislature agreed to the changes.
Opposition house leader Paul Robichaud said the committee of MLAs that oversees legislature business hasn't discussed a broader pension review and probably won't.
"We didn't discuss the pension. For us, it's a done deal. It was done last year," Robichaud said.
First considered a minor change
Robichaud said he's not comfortable making decisions about his own salary and benefits though that's precisely what MLAs did when they changed their compensation in the spring.
The rise in retirement benefits is a result of what was at first considered a minor change. New Brunswick politicians increased their base salary to $85,000 from $45,347. In exchange, the MLAs terminated two tax-free allowances that previously were used to supplement their incomes.
However, MLAs' pensions are based on their salary and the increase in the total wage package flowed directly through to their retirement accounts.
MLA salaries in some other provinces are capped. In Newfoundland and Labrador, there is a pension ceiling put in at about $58,000 and in Nova Scotia pensions are capped at $55,000.
To fully qualify for the New Brunswick pension, MLAs need to serve for 36 months under the new pay structure; they are already at month nine.
In total, the politicians voted themselves about $6 million in retroactive pension benefit increases over the next three years.
MLAs who have served more than 19 years in the legislature will see their annual pensions rise to $72,675 from $38,772. Conservative MLA Percy Mockler and Liberal MLA Larry Kennedy have each served about two decades in the assembly.
The pension adjustment is also expected to pump up Premier Shawn Graham's retirement account by 160 per cent over a three-year period ending on March 31, 2011. Opposition Leader David Alward will see his pension benefit jump by 150 per cent over 36 months, mostly because of retroactive increases to his benefits.