Panel says MLA pay is fair but pension stacking should change
Posted Apr 9, 2014 12:27:19 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The non-integration, or stacking, of the MLA pension plan with the Canada Pension Plan results in a too generous pension benefit for MLAs and needs to be done away with. That’s one of the findings from the MLA remuneration review panel which is out with its report covering everything from MLA pensions to expense claims today.
But the panel also recommends MLAs be eligible for pensions after serving just two years instead of the current two terms and five years.
The review also condulded MLA salaries are reasonable and that MLAs on business trips to Ottawa should be entitled to daily expenses of $100 without receipts.
One of the more significant proposed changes is that only MLAs who live 100 kms or further away should have the right to rent aptartments or hotel rooms, instead of the current 40 kms.
The three-member panel was finalized in December to review Nova Scotia MLA salaries, pensions and benefits.
It included former Auditor General Roy Salmon, Nurses Union President Janet Hazelton and consumer advocate John Merrick.
