Weyburn’s city council took the high road, and threw in a noble gesture while they were at it, when they dealt with a potentially thorny issue regarding their wages on Monday evening.
A notice of motion had been filed at the previous meeting that council was going to recommend that they get an 8.5-per-cent increase to offset the effects of losing a tax exemption on Jan. 1, 2019. Under legislation, one-third of a councillor’s remuneration was tax-free, in recognition of the many hours of hard work municipally-elected officials put in on behalf of their communities.
The Liberals, in a rather unfair move in the 2017 budget, decided they would remove this tax exemption, as they demonstrate once again they have no perception or concept of what fairness is.
Municipalities sometimes have a struggle getting enough people interested in local politics to run for the local council, and having a per diem in place is a simple recognition of the time that they put into being a councillor and serving on boards and committees. They spend hours looking into the issues of providing services to the local community, and their remuneration is hardly sufficient as it is to compensate them for their time.
The Liberals have no interest in being fair however, as is made clear with their punitive carbon tax that they want to inflict on the provinces whether they support it or not, and to take it out on locally-elected municipal councillors is a low blow that should make them ashamed.
In Weyburn’s case, the councillors decided that they would not take the fill-in on their wages, but that the mayor at least should receive the top-up, as he is the representative of the city to the province and to the country, and spends many hours working on the city’s behalf.
The councillors put off topping up their wages until Jan. 1, 2021, when a new council will be at the table, and they can then decide if the top-up is warranted. They did point out there is a perception in the public that this is a big wage hike, but it really isn’t. If they did receive the 8.5-per-cent increase, there would be no net gain, because it would only be replacing the money being stolen away by the federal government.
Unlike the Liberals, the councillors took the high road and put off accepting this top-up of their wages, even though they rightfully should be taking it. Residents should be grateful that they are doing this, and remember that the council is acting in their best interests. — Greg Nikkel
