MLAs giving themselves big pay raises — but only if they're re-elected
Legislation to increase salaries for all members will take effect after November 2024 election
Members of the New Brunswick legislature return to the chamber this week for a final two weeks of pre-summer business that will include a vote on raising their own salaries.
A bill before the legislature increases pay levels for the premier, ministers, party leaders and all MLAs.
But there's a big caveat: they'll need to win new mandates from voters first.
The legislation says the increases take effect Nov. 1, 2024, 11 days after the scheduled date of the next provincial election.
"We're not voting this for ourselves, unless we're re-elected," Green MLA Megan Mitton said during a recent committee discussion of the bill.
The salary for Premier Higgs will jump by around $34,000, if he's still in the job after the next election. (Ed Hunter/CBC)
Combined with legislation last year that unfroze cabinet-level salaries for the first time since 2015, Premier Blaine Higgs would see his total income jump from $152,150 in 2021 to $186,252, if he's still in the job then.
The committee of MLAs that studies legislation approved the bill, without objections, in just 14 minutes last month.
There was no exploration of the details of the salary formulas or how they'll translate into dollars.
"I guess when we're talking MLA compensation, perhaps that old adage 'sometimes less is more' — maybe that's the approach for the day," government House leader Glen Savoie said during the May 24 meeting.
The legislation follows the recommendations of a November 2022 report by an independent commission appointed to examine the issue.
"This is a very sensitive topic. We know how folks feel about it. But it really was something that the commissioners wanted to make sure that they got right," Savoie said during the brief committee discussion of the bill.
"They were exhaustive in their efforts to arrive at what they felt was the right number."
David
Coon, leader of the Green Party, would earn $139,689, the total of his
increased MLA salary, plus 50 percent of premier's ministerial salary. (Jacques Poitras/CBC)
The bill increases the base pay for all MLAs to $93,126. The premier's minister salary will be the same amount for a total of $186,252.
The premier's pay is then the starting point for a formula that sets the top-ups for other officeholders, including party leaders, house leaders, caucus chairs, whips, the speaker and deputy speakers.
The bill deviates from the commission's recommendations in two ways approved by the legislative administration committee, an all-party group of MLAs that meets in secret to oversee the legislature's operations.
Pay raise higher than recommended
The legislative committee awarded a higher pay increase to leaders of parties in the house other than the government or the official opposition, such as Green Party leader David Coon.
The independent commission recommended the top-up be 25 per cent of the premier's cabinet salary, but the committee made it 50 per cent — a change worth an additional $23,281 for Coon, assuming he is still an elected party leader in November 2024.
The committee also boosted the formula for the government caucus chair, the official opposition caucus chair and the house leader of any third parties, ensuring they'll get more money too.
It also made the decision to have the bill take effect in November 2024, overruling a recommendation by the commission that the pay raises take effect this spring.
The commission said in its report that waiting until after the next election created a risk that salaries "will become a political issue on the campaign trail, with all parties promising to roll back these recommendations and maintain the status quo, if elected."
But Savoie and others said setting the date after the election avoids "that perception that MLAs are voting on their own salaries."
The legislation will tie future increases to what's known as part one of the civil service — employees of government departments. The existing law links the base salary to growth in the gross domestic product.
Liberal
Leader Susan Holt will earn $158,314 — the newly increased base salary
for MLAs, plus 70 per cent of the premier's top-up, if she is still in
that position in November 2024. (Pat Richard/CBC)
That change put an end to a series of salary gimmicks and reversals dating back more than a decade and a half.
All MLAs earn base salaries, and those that hold cabinet posts or other positions get additional money on top of that.
In 2008, the legislature froze base MLA salaries at $85,000 per year, a freeze that remained in place until last year.
Then, in 2017, the Gallant Liberal government cut back cabinet salaries with a legislative amendment that said they would return to normal levels only when the budget was balanced.
But the Liberals also forgot to pass legislation to override automatic MLA raises and keep those salaries frozen. So it retroactively refroze them and extended the reduced ministerial salaries to March 2021.
Higgs extended that reduction to March 2022.
When it expired last spring, ministerial salaries jumped from $47,353 back to $52,614 for a total of $137,614 when the MLA base salary was added.
The premier's, at $67,150, returned to $79,000 for a total of $164,000.
The new bill raises them further thanks to the hike to the base MLA pay to $93,126.
Green MLA Megan Mitton says MLAs are not voting this for themselves, unless they're re-elected. (Patrick Richard/CBC)
That base pay figure is based on what the salary would have been last year based on GDP growth, had the freeze not been in effect.
Official Opposition leader Susan Holt will earn $158,314 — the newly increased base salary for MLAs, plus 70 per cent of the premier's top-up, if she is still in that position in November 2024.
Green Leader David Coon would earn $139,689, the total of his increased MLA salary, plus 50 percent of premier's ministerial salary.
Savoie is both a cabinet minister and government house leader, but a spokesperson said he would not collect the two top-ups, only the one for his ministerial position.
MLAs who attend committee sessions will also earn an extra $125 per day on top of their travel per diems as a result of the changes. Committee chairs will get $200 per day.
The legislature begins sitting again on Tuesday.
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https://davidraymondamos3.blogspot.com/2022/01/minister-lashes-out-as-green-mla-stalls.html
Wednesday, 26 January 2022
Minister lashes out as Green MLA stalls vote on 'safe communities' bill
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Subject: RE: The feud between Ted Flemming and Kevin Arseneau versus
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Subject: Re: The feud between Ted Flemming and Kevin Arseneau versus
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Minister lashes out as Green MLA stalls vote on 'safe communities' bill
Ted Flemming clashes with Green MLA Kevin Arseneau over bill amendments
Ted Flemming lashed out at Kevin Arseneau, accusing him of wearing a "supercilious smirk" after the Kent North MLA insisted on his right to pose more questions about the bill.
Flemming had to leave the Wednesday meeting at 1:30 p.m. for an appointment, and he urged the legislative committee examining the bill to vote on it before adjourning.
Green Party MLA Kevin Arseneau wants to see data to back up Flemming's claim the SCAN program works. (Jacques Poitras/CBC News)
But MLAs have a right to unlimited questions during committee debate, and Arseneau refused to forgo that right, meaning the vote could not take place.
"I am not prepared to vote. … I have questions that have not been answered yet."
Flemming accused Arseneau of "posturing" by demanding data to back up Flemming's claim that the Safer Communities and Neighbourhoods Act has been working well.
"He can sit there with his supercilious smirk all he wants," Flemming said. "We don't have the information."
The minister said he was willing to get the information to him later and said Arseneau would be to blame for impeding the province's efforts to crack down on crime.
Arseneau said he should not be expected to vote based only on the minister's verbal assurances that the Safer Communities and Neighborhoods Act is working.
"What I want is data, is facts. Not just 'I've seen that it works.' That's a very discretionary way to make laws."
Committee
members have a right to ask as many questions as they want, and
Arseneau's refusal to allow a vote was upheld by the committee chair. (Karissa Donkin/CBC)
Other Progressive Conservative MLAs also called for a vote, but PC MLA and committee chair Greg Turner pointed out the rules allow Arseneau to keep asking questions. The debate will resume at a later date.
The Safer Communities and Neighbourhoods, or SCAN, program was passed into law in 2009 and started operating in 2010. It's designed to let authorities go through civil, not criminal, courts to force drug dealers and other criminals out of neighbourhoods.
That means the burden of proof is not as high as establishing guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Flemming's amendments would protect the anonymity of neighbours who make complaints, which he acknowledged would "permit hearsay evidence" not normally admissible in court.
They would also update the law to say there's a presumption a neighbourhood is "adversely affected" if a judge is satisfied "a property is being habitually used for a specified use" such as drug sales. That in turn makes it easier for the judge to issue an order under the act.
Nicole
O'Byrne, an associate law professor at UNB, says one of the amendments
puts a higher burden on the accused to disprove the allegations. (Mag Hood/Submitted Nicole O'Byrne)
University of New Brunswick law professor Nicole O'Byrne called that amendment problematic because it takes away a judge's discretion to decide how a neighbourhood is affected based on evidence.
And it also puts a higher burden on the person facing eviction to disprove the assumption.
Housing and anti-poverty activist Abram Lutes said allowing anonymous complaints opens the door to the law being abused to discriminate against poor and racialized tenants.
"It can easily be used as a pretext to get rid of people," he said.
In 2015 an Edmundston man was evicted from an apartment after police warned his landlord he was the subject of a SCAN investigation before the case ever got to court.
In 2013, a Court of Queen's Bench judge in Saint John quashed two evictions by N.B. Housing, the provincial government's social housing agency, that it launched after SCAN investigations.
Justice Peter Glennie's ruling was against New Brunswick Housing for not giving the tenants the chance to challenge their evictions, not against SCAN itself.
Still, Glennie said in his ruling that the SCAN investigations were "inadequate and superficial," pointing out the investigator never spoke to the tenants themselves.
Flemming's amendments have been through two readings by the full legislature and now must be approved by a committee before returning for a third and final vote.
He said the SCAN Act has been a success.
"We have had many, many, many complaints, many investigations, many successful evictions, and many grateful people," he said. "This works. It's good legislation."
Under the law, the SCAN unit in Flemming's department received and investigates a complaint and can then try to convince the "offending party" stop their behaviour or ask a judge to issue a "community safety order" to vacate the property.
The person named in the complaint is given a notice of that hearing so they can respond.
But part of the amendments debated Wednesday will allow investigators to send the notice by registered mail rather than serving it to the person directly.
Public Safety Minister Ted Flemming said he didn't have the
information MLA Kevin Arseneau wanted. (Jacques Poitras/CBC file photo)
Flemming said Wednesday that makes it harder for the person to avoid being served with the notice. "This allows that behaviour to not work to the advantage of a criminal," he said.
Flemming repeatedly referred to the subjects of SCAN investigations as "criminals" though at no point in the process are they charged with a crime.
Last May, Flemming told the legislature that the province's COVID-19 emergency order went "against my grain as a libertarian" because it gave the government extraordinary powers to limit personal freedoms when enforcing restrictions.
He said Wednesday the SCAN act doesn't limit a citizen's rights to procedural fairness before the courts.
"If someone doesn't like this statute they can appeal it or they can challenge it under the Constitution," he said.
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What I am going to say is that CBC is guilty of sensationalism here, as Arseneau is not stalling a vote simply by asking that affirmations made be backed by data. He is doing his job in committee, and Flemming should realize that is the role of committees. What is the point of having committees at all if you can't ask such questions. If you can say that it has been working, you should be able to back it up with data. If not, how the hell do you know it is working?
“Let me say clearly: I mean every word that we say, we will hold ourselves to a higher standard…When we are asked a sincere question, we will give a straight answer. When we are given a job to do, we will measure the results and share them with out spin. When we make mistakes, we will humbly own them and work to do better. When we defend out choices, we will do so with evidence and facts, not talking points and personal attacks. And we will always remember that results, not image, are the things that will keep the New Brunswick alive.”
Premier
Ted didn't get the memo.
Imagine, one of his own caucus member had to tell Flemming that not only was he not way out in left field, but that he was not even in the ballpark.
Unidentified witness says RCMP officer encouraged Grand Manan vigilantes
CBC News · Posted: Apr 04, 2007 6:12 PM AT
"A surprise Crown witness offered testimony that supported the defence on the last day of thetrial of Ronald Ross, the man at the centre of last summer's riot on Grand Manan Island.
The former Grand Manan man is accused of illegal possession of afirearm and uttering threats against his neighbours in the weeks leading up toJuly 22, 2006, which culminated in the burning of Ross's house. Ross's lawyer says those accusations are made up by people who were out to get the suspected drug dealer."
Nothing there about the RCMP officer who protected Ross from the mob eh?
theres my supercilious smirk of the day
deactivated?
havent voted lib since McKenna prob never will again
cause im now entrenched into the You Guys
I guess this is what the opponents to this are getting at in the story. I don't understand how the government justifies this
would have police spending their time playing the "shell game", constantly looking
to evict criminals instead of being given a concrete plan (which costs money) that
could reduce or eliminate the drug problem.
Hence Teddy gets to rub in the fact that we get the governments we deserve
Noel Sherwood
Methinks folks should have clued in when Higgy et al sent me butter tarts as soon as Cardy and Lamrock turned coat and challenged me to run in a provincial election N'esy Pas?
Methinks many would agree that they make Higgy's circus almost as entertaining as Cardy does N'esy Pas?
You think that's fair and due process?
Where did he get his law degree❓
Paid to do a job. Cherrypicking isnt one of them
don't agree about something and you're a shill for organised crime. What is probably illegal is forcing somebody to move without a conviction. This won't stand up in court.
Where is the money for the jails?
Where’s the money for the staff?
Where’s the money for lawyers and judges?
Ppl like ted have been in power for decades….they helped create the poverty that is the root of most of the crime.
Was he convicted ? Where is the investigative reporting ?
i couldn't figure out what discretionary powers were deprived
There would be a briefing book available to the minister answering most potential questions that will be proposed in committee; particularly was the program or service successful, and if so in what way. And if Fleming did not have that book or didn't bother to refer to it that is sloppy work on his, and his various assistants' part. And highly disrespectful to the legislative process.
Legislative committees exist for opposition members to hold the government of the day accountable. Not for the minister to tell the opposition and the public how great he or she is at running the department.
Methinks Arseneau et al know that I am very proud of mon ami Roger Richard who has run against your hero twice thus far N'esy Pas?
So say hey for me to your CBC/CNN buddies, Chucky Leblanc, Mr Arseneau, Mr Coon the lawyer O'Byrne and especially my cousin Madame Mitton too will ya?
Calmer tone during committee discussions of anti-drug dealer amendments
Earlier meeting saw public safety minister call Green MLA a 'shill for organized crime'
Days after calling a Green MLA a "shill for organized crime" for demanding data and facts to prove the bill was necessary, Flemming said Kevin Arseneau was asking "very legitimate" questions about it.
The changes to the Safer Communities and Neighbourhoods Act, known as the SCAN Act, would make it easier for authorities to push alleged drug dealers out of homes, apartments and neighbourhoods without having to prove them guilty of a crime.
Arseneau's lengthy questioning of the bill last week forced the committee studying it to adjourn without holding a vote, which angered Flemming at the time.
Green
MLA Kevin Arseneau and Public Safety Minister Ted Flemming were at odds
last week over whether a committee vote on amendments to the SCAN Act
should go ahead. (Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick)
He accused Arseneau of wearing "a supercilious smirk" during the debate and said people living near drug dealers would blame him for the lack of action.
"They'll know exactly why the progress to fighting crime has been impeded. It's on you, Mr. Arseneau."
On Tuesday, however, Flemming went out of his way to acknowledge Arseneau's questions and answer them.
The amendments to the SCAN Act would protect the anonymity of neighbours who make complaints about drug activity. The minister acknowledged last week it would "permit hearsay evidence" that is not normally admissible in court.
They would also require a judge reviewing an application for a SCAN order to presume a neighbourhood is "adversely affected" if or she is satisfied that drugs are being sold at a property.
Critics say both of those provisions will leave the law open to abuse.
'Not to harm people'
Flemming said Tuesday that many of the same standards from criminal investigations will apply to SCAN investigations.
Evidence gathered after a complaint goes to Crown prosecutors who make decisions whether to go ahead independently of government, he said.
And a Court of Queen's Bench judge then holds a hearing and the owner of the property is notified and can appear and contest the order.
Flemming argued Tuesday the only people who may suffer as a result of a SCAN order are criminals.
"This legislation is brought forward not to harm people. It is brought forward to help people."
Arseneau said he agreed with the goal but said there should be a more holistic approach to dealing with crime.
"Often it's not the 'what' but the 'how.' … The approaches can be very, very different."
He said he was worried someone committing a minor offence, such as growing five marijuana plants in their own home for personal use rather than the legally permitted limit of four, could be subject to a SCAN investigation and to eviction.
Flemming again welcomed the debate.
"It's a good part of the legislative and democratic process that he asks these questions about accountability and negative impacts and stuff like that. This is why we're here."
No support from Arseneau
After about 45 minutes of questions, Arseneau said he wasn't satisfied with Flemming's answers and could not support the bill.
But he thanked Flemming for a more polite meeting than last Wednesday.
"To have discussions like we're having right now with a respectful tone is an important part of democracy, and I know you agree with that."
"I agree," Flemming said.
The committee voted to approve the bill and send it back to the full legislature where it will go to a final vote in the spring.
The committee also approved a bill to allow Cannabis N.B. to expand operations by opening around 10 smaller, privately run stores later this year.
That said there is no substitute for due process and even former and active criminals deserve due process. It's an odd enforcement tactic, to say the least.
https://myapegnb.apegnb.com/APEGNB-EN/Registry/Member-Details.aspx?ID=32253
I'm not a fan of Higgs but posting stuff like this makes me question your motives.
Kevin Arseneau needs to go back to his farm and work at something he knows.
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