Coquitlam council’s review of the motion calling on the province to set up an independent commission mandated with deciding how, when and by how much elected officials are awarded in pay raises will be pushed to future date.
Coquitlam councillor Teri Towner, who proposed the motion, is sick. This means council’s vote on the motion, originally scheduled for Monday, will be deferred, a city spokesperson told Global News.
READ MORE: Should politicians vote on their own raises? This one says no
If the motion to create a provincially-appointed independent commission to review and set local government remuneration passes, it would go to the Union of B.C. Municipalities (UBCM) meeting in September.
LISTEN: Voting yourself a pay raise back in the news:
It would be one of many steps that would need to be taken before the provincial government has to step in.
“This is only my first term on council but I’ve heard comments quite often that ‘oh it must be so nice to vote yourself a raise’,” Towner said.
“Most of us go into public service for that, to serve the public but in order to get paid, we have to actually vote on getting paid, and I think that system is seriously flawed.”
The issue of whether self-imposed raises for elected officials are appropriate or not has been in the spotlight recently after the Board of Metro Vancouver voted itself a controversial pay hike, only to scrap it a month later in the wake of a public outcry.
“I mean even though we are elected to make decisions and to show leadership, I think it can really diminish public trust, it can erode public confidence, there’s misperceptions out there and it doesn’t serve anyone when we vote on our own remuneration,” Towner said.
Towner said the motion will be postponed until Monday, June 18.
READ MORE: One month after voting itself a pay hike, Metro Vancouver’s board has scrapped the plan
~ With files from Simon Little and Ted Chernecki
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