A panel of senior Nova Scotia government bureaucrats will examine the pay packages for members of the legislature, which have not increased since before they were frozen nearly a decade ago.
The independent panel will review such things as salaries, benefits, pensions, travel and constituency allowances, said house Speaker Danielle Barkhouse in a news release issued late Wednesday.
Panel members include Tracey Taweel, the premier’s executive deputy minister; Kelliann Dean, deputy finance minister; and deputy justice minister Jennifer Glennie. As well, Deloitte Canada has been hired to prepare a report on remuneration for legislature members.
Barkhouse said the deputy ministers have the combined experience to carry out their task, adding that she has “the utmost respect for their independence and their unimpeachable non-partisanship.”
Former Liberal premier Stephen McNeil imposed a freeze on politicians’ pay, office budgets and living expenses in 2015. Since then, base salaries have remained at $89,235, although there are significant top-ups for the premier, opposition leaders and cabinet ministers.
Members who live more than 100 kilometres from Halifax are given a living allowance, and they each have a budget for their constituency offices. The last increase in the base salary was in 2013.
Premier Tim Houston had signalled ahead of the Speaker’s announcement that he was open to a review, despite having moved to block the last recommended pay increase in July 2022. At the time, he convened an emergency session of the legislature to pass a bill rescinding a 12.6 per cent pay hike that was part of binding recommendations made by an independent review panel.
Houston had said that stopping the salary increase was necessary because the public was struggling with high inflation.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 19, 2024.