Liberal MLA Greg Byrne, right, and Conservative MLA Bev Harrison promised on March 17, 2010, to begin a review of MLAs' pension increase. (CBC) Liberal and Conservative MLAs have not yet followed through on promises to review an 85 per cent jump in their pensions that they voted themselves more than two years ago.
Liberal House Leader Greg Byrne and Conservative House Leader Bev Harrison promised an independent review in March. Byrne said at the time that the review would likely start in April.
But the review group still hasn't been put together, even though the current session of the New Brunswick legislature dissolves in two weeks leading up to the Sept. 27 election. Several MLAs will be retiring with the current pension in place.
Harrison said the plan now is to name the committee before the closure of the legislature.
Provincial politicians voted for pay changes in April 2008 that increased their pension benefits in what was then called a temporary change pending further review.
Judge recommended pension review three years ago
An independent compensation review by Justice Patrick Ryan, the province's conflict of interest commissioner, said that New Brunswick politicians should be paid more, but that they should pay taxes on all of it.
The rise in retirement benefits came not only because MLAs hiked their salary from $45,347 to $85,000, but also because they stopped two tax-free allowances that had previously supplemented their income.
MLA pension accounts were flooded with millions of dollars because the former expense allowances — now taxable salary — had not been part of the pension plan.
Ryan said he knew it would affect pension benefits, but suggested it would be temporary because he had also recommended an outside review of MLA pensions.
'That's what the Liberals and Conservatives want. They want to go into an election without having an alternative on the table.'—Dominic Cardy, NDP spokesman
The New Brunswick plan pays a $30,000-a-year pension after eight years of service, up from $16,500. It pays $76,000 after 20 years, almost double the previous $41,000 under the old guidelines. All pension amounts are fully indexed to inflation.
The NDP, which has no seats in the legislature, has made pension rollbacks the key plank of their election platform so far. They say if they have a seat in a minority government, they will not cooperate unless the other parties agree to a bill that will cut MLA pay 20 per cent and halve their pensions.
NDP spokesman Dominic Cardy said he believes naming the committee at the last minute was the plan all along.
"That's what the Liberals and Conservatives want," he said. "They want to go into an election without having an alternative on the table, without options on pensions available for the public to vote on."
