Finance Minister Travis Toews during the announcement of the Blue-Ribbon panel back in May (Courtesy: Government of Alberta)

By Shaun Penner

Politician Pay Cuts

MLA pay cut meant to set tone for balancing the budget: Toews

Aug 9, 2019 | 4:18 PM

With the news from earlier this week of provincial politicians taking a pay cut, the province’s Finance Minister says it is meant to set an example for all Albertans but is not necessarily indicative of what’s to come for public sector workers.

GP-Wapiti MLA Travis Toews spoke with EverythingGP about the news, which will see MLA’s like Toews and Grande Prairie’s Tracy Allard taking a five per cent reduction in pay, while Premier Jason Kenney’s pay cheque will be 10 per cent lighter.

Toews says it is meant to set the tone to get the province back to balance but does say Albertans should be prepared for many cost saving measures.

“There will need to be sacrifices made, I expect, by all Albertans as we go forward, to ensure that we’re not passing off our operational spending on the next generation,” said Toews. “We made a commitment to Albertans, in our platform, that we would bring this province to balance in our first term. We take that commitment seriously, and so this is about leading by example.”

The United Conservatives have faced criticism from the opposition NDP, stating that the move of cutting wages is meant to act as leverage in wage negotiations with public sector workers. Toews states that isn’t necessarily the case.

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“They do signal the direction of our government, in terms of being very fiscally responsible, but I don’t think I would read more into that,” said Toews. “Obviously we will be rolling out a budget here this fall, and again, we intend to roll out a budget that will, in a realistic way, put us on a path to balance by 2022-23.”

Many here in Grande Prairie, and elsewhere in the province, are eager for the first budget to be presented this fall by the United Conservatives. That budget is going to be heavily based on the findings of the Kenney appointed Blue-Ribbon panel, which is doing a “deep dive” into the state of Alberta’s finances.

Adding to the point of creating political cover, many in opposition to the UCP believe this panel is meant to give them a way to make drastic cuts across the board without taking too much heat from the public.

Toews says the government will receive that report on August 15, while Kenney said earlier this week in a press conference that those findings will be made public in early September. Toews says he is eager to look at what the panel will recommend.

With all of that, the UCP’s also reflected on their first 100 days in office this week, in which the Premier lauded the efforts of his government in sticking to the promises the UCP’s made in their campaign. That sentiment is echoed by Toews, who says they remain focussed on their main objective: getting the economy growing again.

“We know that the economy is likely the most important piece for most Albertans these days and we’re committed to doing all we can, as a government, to return this province to a province of prosperity.”