Do as I say and not as I do.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009 at 9:09PM NOTE: I have addded some changes as I understand that MLA wages are already frozen and there are no plans to increase them during this time. I still think it was a rookie mistake not to mention the existing freezes, especially considering the raises of 2008, but to be fair my original post was off-base. Thanks to MLA Doug Elniski and Josh Traptow for correcting me.
Original Post:
I don't have the energy tonight to provide much commentary on the Premier Stelmach address, other than this one very simple point.
Stelmach address wage freezes for bureaucratic management, and totally ignores MLA's and Cabinet ministers who have just given themselves very healthy raises recently. I'm no genius, but I know a little bit about leading by example. This is a horrible miss, and you can expect for many to talk about it over the next few weeks. Starting with the regulars, and of course the PC's newest nemesis, the upstart Wildrose Alliance Party.
Why do our politicians keep missing on the simple things? It's a dumbass mistake and one that I think we can't let go of. I am going to start the Twitter hashtag #ablegfreeze to see if we can start a meme on it. Join me.
ABLEG, Alberta Legislature, Ed Stelmach in Alberta, Random Thoughts 
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Reader Comments (3)
It would be very interesting to research the percentage of salary increases for MLA's since the PC's took office in the 70's and compare it to the percentage of salary increases in the public sector for nurses, teachers, etc.
I know I have read, at some time over the past many years, comments from politicians that, attractive salaries attract good/above average people to run for office. One would assume that by now MLA's salaries, plus other sources of revenue MLA's get for various committees, positions, etc., would be quit adequate.
On the other hand, when public employees are told/forced to accept 1/2&3 % salary increases, that same philosophy, attractive salaries attract good/above average people to fill positions, suddenly becomes invalid.
It takes courage to lead by example.
I didn't see the broadcast, but from comments I am assuming that Ed and his crew expect to grow out of the deficit mess by rising oil prices, and if they are lucky - some currency help. He is counting on changes to healthcare to cut costs. He doesn't want to talk too much about any of this in detail, trying to take a page from Klein's playbook in keeping debate and discussion to a minimum.
The problem is that this province values fiscal conservative policies (even Alberta Liberals think this way I am telling you) and by running a huge deficit, Stelmach is the man of lost credibility. It fits neatly into some crass stereotypes of "the farmer who is above his head", reinforced by extremely poor speaking skills and lack of comfort in front of the camera.
First of all, the man needs a career coach in the worst possible way. There are such people that work with politicians, and the Tories should hire one immediately. Public speaking skills can be improved if worked on, but it takes time and lots of effort.
There are other problems that are beyond an advisor's ability to help - the only way Ed can get credibility back is getting some results to promote. Maybe he should admit his foibles in public speaking too - would seem more human.
As for the environmental file - it presently is a disaster and the province could get badly burned in December. But the province is between a rock and a hard place because it has no credibility in the national and international scenes. Hold on tight because the bricks are coming our way. He has the challenge of changing the whole provinces narrow culture to include environmental policy - impossible in a short time! It is like watching a ship heading for the rocks in my opinion. Scary stuff!
Article in Journal today (A7, top): the 15 and 10% rollbacks for the Premier and Cabinet respectively are NOT as they seem...
Because the salary cuts are only on their executive pay -- not their full pay including MLA salary -- the actual cuts are 5.6% for Ed and 3.5% for cabinet ministers. It is not clear if their 'bonuses for meetings of cabinet and Treasury Board' have been reduced.
(read that again: a cabinet minister in Alberta gets a bonus for meeting with cabinet!)