Status quo for Council compensation

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“I’m appalled at the experience the committee has had,” Councillor Cori Ramsay noted, adding sitting on the same committee was one of her first forays into politics. “But I think it’s where we’re at in society.”

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According to the City’s Remuneration Bylaw, a review “of Mayor and Councillor remuneration, benefits and expense reimbursement in comparison to peer municipalities shall be conducted by an advisory committee comprised of members of the public by the second quarter of the last year of each Council’s term.”

As part of the performance of that requirement, the advisory committee put forward an option of using a performance-based system for determining a system for remuneration or, in the alternative, it recommended “… if a metric based model was not tenable, Council should review whether an arm’s length model be adopted such as a remuneration framework whereby the Mayor’s remuneration is tied to a percentage of provincial Minister remuneration and Councillor remuneration is tied to a percentage of Member of Legislative Assembly remuneration, to a maximum of the median salary of peer municipalities.”

Simon Yu opened the discussion by stating he would “prefer to keep the status quo,” meaning cost of living salary increases.

His sentiment was generally accepted, with exception of Councillor Cori Ramsay, who argued in favour of the notion of equal pay for equal work, citing the challenges with a very demanding job.

“I take 104 days off work to do Council work. It’s a loss of income. It’s a loss of pensionable income.”

Councillor Kyle Sampson agreed, but noted he has a very supportive employer, while Councillor Susan Scott noted her employment was terminated as a result of becoming a member of Council.

Regardless, Council voted, though not unanimously, to stick with the status quo.

However, Council will also look at removing the Bylaw section requiring quadrennial review “… such that the work can be completed without making the neutral volunteer committees targeted and vilified.”