Talk of an election is in the air, as several MLAs have announced they will not be re-running, while locally, four people are vying to win the nod to be the PC candidate for the Lac La Biche-St. Paul-Two Hills constituency (see pages 12 and 13 for more).
In the midst of early election talk (which would break the government’s own fixed election law), Premier Jim Prentice has announced he and his colleagues would be taking a five per cent pay cut. If it is accepted by MLAs, this will lead to about $600,000 in savings.
This is widely seen as a preamble to the government taking the axe to public services and union employee wages. Prentice hinted at this saying, “I would never ask people who are hardworking civil servants on behalf of the Government of Alberta to shoulder responsibilities that I wouldn’t shoulder as their premier.”
Prentice is new to the provincial government scene. He can’t be blamed for past governments’ fiscal incompetence that has led to the unpalatable choices before him now – belt-tightening, new taxes or a deficit budget. But Alberta’s public employees shouldn’t have to suffer for mismanagement either.
Prentice will be playing politics by taking a symbolic, meaningless pay cut to his own salary and calling it shouldering the burden. Five per cent means different things to different people. An already wealthy person such as Prentice, earning upwards of $200,000, may not miss the extra $10,000 as much as the father or mother, who may be struggling to support a family and make ends meet, may miss the extra $2,000 on a $40,000 salary.
On the other breath, the government agreed to plow on with a planned $18 million rebuild golf course in Kananaskis after it was ravaged by flood damage. Sure, there’s no guarantee that the course won’t be hit by flooding again, but don’t worry, the government’s saved $600,000 from MLA pay cuts will go part of the way to paying off the rebuild so that wealthy tourists and oil and gas executives can play golf in scenic conditions.
It really is par for the course. One can only hope that a new election with new candidates – whenever it happens - means a new direction for the province.
