Sign the petition to cut the supersized MLA pensions and pay
The NDP Has a Clear Plan to Cut MLA Pensions and Pay
Roger Duguay and the New Brunswick NDP have a detailed plan to cut the supersized pensions that the David Alward Conservatives and Shawn Graham Liberals voted to give themselves with your money.
Roger and the NDP will also cut MLA salaries and reduce their severance packages. MLAs should be in politics to serve their communities and the province – not for the money.
If you agree with cutting supersized MLA pensions, and with cutting MLA pay, please sign the petition on this page. If enough people in New Brunswick demand change, we can make David Alward, Shawn Graham and their MLAs do the right thing and cut their supersized pensions and pay.
The NDP has a clear plan to cut supersized MLA pensions and pay: The 20/50 bill
Roger Duguay and the NDP have drafted a bill to cut MLA salaries by 20% and MLA pensions by over 50%. The 20/50 bill will also cut MLAs’ golden parachute severance package by over 83%. (Click here if you would like read the 20/50 bill and a detailed explanation of what it will do.)
If the people of New Brunswick elect an NDP voice back to the Legislature on September 27th, we will introduce the 20/50 bill and fight to pass it.
If the NDP holds the balance of power in a minority government, we will only support a Liberal or Conservative government if they pass the NDP 20/50 bill. This is a non-negotiable condition for NDP support of a minority government.
Until the NDP 20/50 bill is passed, NDP MLAs will only keep the level of pay the 20/50 bill proposes. The extra pay the NDP MLAs receive will be donated to charity.
Why is this issue so important to the NDP?
Roger Duguay and the NDP are the voice of middle class New Brunswick families who want to defend quality front-line services like health care and education, services that help you get along in life. We are realistic, and we know the government cannot provide high-quality front-line services if it is broke. Decades of Conservative and Liberal mismanagement have pushed New Brunswick to the edge of a debt cliff – the government now has the highest deficit in history and a total debt approaching $9 billion.
We need to get the Conservative-Liberal debt and deficit under control. If we don’t act now, the Conservatives and Liberals will cut vital health and education programs. The Conservative-Liberal legacy of debt and deficits is also a huge tax on children and unborn future generations who will have to pay it back.
Reforming MLA pensions and pay is partly about basic fairness – MLAs should be prevented by law from voting themselves outrageous pension and pay increases with your money – and it is partly about setting a new direction for the government.
The David Alward Conservatives and Shawn Graham Liberals continue to do politics the old way. They promise millions in new spending at the same time as they promise to cut taxes. It does not add up. They cannot keep all their promises without bankrupting the province, which would mean huge cuts to existing front-line services like health and education. The fact that they voted, unanimously, to supersize their own pensions while so many middle class families are struggling to make ends meet shows why we need change.
Roger Duguay and the NDP stand for change. Change to a fiscally responsible government that can save health care and education. Change to a government that is thrifty with your tax dollars. We want to cut waste and focus government spending on the front-line services that matter to the people of New Brunswick. Every dollar wasted on supersized MLA pensions and salaries (and other wasteful spending like Conservative-Liberal cash giveaways to big companies like Oremulsion and Atcon) takes money away from front-line services for middle class New Brunswick families.
The waste has to stop, and electing a strong NDP voice to the Legislature on September 27th is the way to stop it.
How the Conservatives and Liberals Supersized their Pensions
In April 2008, the Conservatives and Liberals voted unanimously to increase their base salaries from $45,347.00 to $85,000.00. Not one Conservative or Liberal MLA voted against this increase.
On that day, a flood had knocked out the TV cameras in the Legislature. Journalists had fled for higher ground. But the Conservatives and Liberals took advantage of the rising waters to rush through an unpopular and self-serving bill while no one was watching.
Just one NDP MLA in the Legislature could have stopped this bill. Passing it so quickly was only possible with a unanimous vote. But because the NDP has no seats, we could not stop the bill. The Conservatives and Liberals did not want to give the public and the media the time to realize what was happening.
One NDP MLA to stop the Conservatives and Liberals from supersizing their pay and pensions: one of many reasons to elect a strong NDP voice, the voice of the middle class, to the Legislature on September 27th.
When asked about the raise they gave themselves, the Conservatives and Liberals said the raise cost nothing because, at the same time, they got rid of some old slush funds they used to top up MLA salaries. What they did not say was that their pensions and severance packages are calculated from their base salaries. So by massively increasing their base salaries, they massively increased their pensions as well: more money in their pockets, less for health and education.
These new pensions are outrageous. After just eight years of service, an ordinary backbench MLA qualifies for a pension of over $30,000 per year. While most middle class people have to work their whole lives to earn a pension like that, the Conservatives and Liberals decided they deserved these pensions, paid for with your money, after only eight years. The numbers are even worse for party leaders and Ministers. By April 2011 Conservative Leader David Alward will have racked up a pension that will pay him $75,000.00 per year.
On May 15th, Conservative Leader David Alward said he was entitled to his entitlements. He said: “Compensation levels should not be so small that they discourage qualified candidates from running”.
Roger Duguay and the NDP say that, in tough times, with many middle class families struggling to make ends meet and an historic deficit, our politicians should show real leadership and sacrifice their own pay and pensions for the greater good.
If you agree with cutting the Conservative-Liberal supersized MLA pensions, and with cutting MLA pay, please sign the petition on this page. If enough people in New Brunswick demand change, we can make David Alward, Shawn Graham and their MLAs to do the right thing and cut their supersize pensions and salaries.