Conservative Party of B.C. Leader John Rustad Monday (April 14) stood by comments calling for higher salaries for elected members of the legislative assembly, but also called for an independent review of the current system to ensure MLAs are fairly compensated.
Rustad said last week at the Canada Strong and Free Network Conference in Ottawa that politicians need to be paid better, when asked how he would motivate people, especially those in their prime earning years, to enter politics.
He said politics would benefit from individuals who know what it is like to build something.
"It's the reluctant politicians, it's those business people, it's the people who have signed the front end of a pay-cheque, who understand the struggles and the issues associated with making something work," he said.
He then doubled down on those comments in an interview with Globe and Mail Friday.
鈥淚鈥檒l put it in very crude terms: You pay peanuts, you get monkeys,鈥� he said.
When asked about those comments Monday, he stood by them.
"(The) reality is, if you want to have good people entering politics, if you want to have good people in their prime years entering politics, there needs to be appropriate compensation," he said.
MLAs earn a basic salary of $119,532.72 as of April 1, 2024. That figure does not include compensation for additional titles. Premier David Eby receives another $107,579.45 鈥� or 90 per cent of his basic salary 鈥� for his role. Ministers receive a 50 per cent top off. A full break-down is available
Government Monday tabled a bill that proposes to freeze salaries for the fiscal year that started April 1, 2025. Legislators would have been due for a salary bump of 2.6 per cent, according to the Canadian Taxpayers' Federation.
Rustad said he supports that bill, but added that there needs to be an independent process that takes the issue out of the hands of MLAs themselves and brings forward good recommendations for how MLAs should be compensated.
He added that one possible model would see somebody from the private sector, somebody from the judiciary and somebody who is a former politician review compensation. Going forward, Rustad said he sees a system that would index the salaries of MLAs to the average wage in B.C. rather than inflation.
"Quite frankly, our goal should be significantly to do everything we can, to see significant improvements to that average wage, because so many people today are struggling with affordability in British Columbia."
Rustad's comments have not gone without criticism. Former Conservative MLA Jordan Kealy accused him of hypocrisy.
"Too many times, John has been a hypocrite and this is just another example," Kealy wrote on his Facebook page.
"He makes $180,000 per year! Then, he referred to it as 'peanuts' after criticizing the NDP for months about giving themselves pay raises. I know far too many British Columbians that are struggling right now and this doesn't help them."
Kealy was referring to criticisms about the size of cabinet, inclusive the appointment of 14 parliamentary secretaries. According to calculations from the CTF, cabinet appointments will cost taxpayers close to an additional $2 million over the next four years when compared to previous cabinets.
Kealy said he does not need a pay raise, because he went into politics to make a difference in the lives of his constituents.
"I'm happy to not take a raise and I believe it should be the same for all politicians until they actually start improving our quality of life," he wrote.
The Canadian Taxpayers Federation praised the bill freezing MLA salaries for this year, noting taxpayers stand to save about $289,000.
鈥淚t鈥檚 good that some NDP MLAs might not be getting two massive pay raises this year,鈥� Carson Binda, executive director, said. 鈥淥ne pay raise was bad enough and two would have added insult to injury.鈥�
