New cap will see Sask. MLA salaries increase 3% on April 1
Change made after MLAs refused 6.8% raise based on record-high inflation
Saskatchewan MLAs will get a raise on April 1, but not the nearly seven per cent hike they were scheduled to receive.
Increases to Saskatchewan MLA salaries and allowances are tied to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for that year, and take effect April 1.
In 2022, the CPI rose 6.8 per cent — a 40-year high, and the largest increase since 1982.
A committee of Saskatchewan government MLAs had previously asked legislative services to review the upcoming scheduled increase in their salaries. Both party leaders said their MLAs would not take that large a raise.
A Board of Internal Economy (BOIE) document amended Tuesday noted that CPI increases will now be capped at three per cent, with a minimum of zero per cent, effective April 1, 2023.
"[The change] would really reflect what had been the long-term trends on CPI," said Meadow Lake MLA Jeremy Harrison, who is on the all-party BOIE that reviews issues like salary increases.
"Going forward, anything between 0 and 3 (for CPI) would be the rate. Above three, any given year, three is the max."
A 6.8 per cent increase this year would've seen most MLAs receive an extra $7,023 for a total base salary of $110,303.
Instead, the three per cent increase taking effect April 1 will add an extra $3,099, for a total of $106,383.
MLA allowances also see boost
The increase is also applied to annual allowances given to each MLA with additional duties.
The premier receives the largest total allowance — currently $75,121 — with the deputy premier following at $60,096. Those will increase to $77,375 and $61,899 respectively.
The leader of the opposition, along with the speaker, currently have allowances of $52,586 which will increase to $54,164.
MLAs are deducted $250 for each day on which they are absent from a sitting of the legislature for reasons outside of those on a pre-determined list .
They also lose $400 for each day they are named by the Speaker and suspended from the chamber for the remainder of the day's sitting.
Issue of Fairness: Opposition leader
The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) previously stated it does not think MLAs should be getting a raise at all.
"Most people in the province aren't guaranteed a raise every year no matter what type of job they're holding. I'm not sure that we need to guarantee that for MLAs," CTF prairie director Gage Haubrich said last week.
Haurbrich added that Saskatchewan MLAs are "fairly compensated" and make more than their counterparts in Manitoba and Nova Scotia, two provinces with similar populations.
On Tuesday, Opposition Leader Carla Beck said the discussion surrounding this year's scheduled increase has sparked further interest in creating a better system to determine MLA salary changes.
"We see people across this province struggling with, really, generational cost of living increases," Beck said.
"It's caused me, and caused us, to think about what is a more fair way to determine MLA increases again."
Unprompted, Beck noted she will donate "any increase" to causes such as the community fridge in her constituency and transition houses in the province.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
With Files from Adam Hunter