Looking for ways to trim the budget, Newfoundland and Labrador鈥檚 premier wants to cut the number of representatives in the provincial legislature. Perhaps sa国际传媒 should consider doing the same.
Newfoundland鈥檚 electoral boundaries commission was set to do a 10-year review in 2016, but Premier Paul Davis said he would like to see the 48-member legislature reduced by 10 before the election he must call this fall. The reduction would save about $2.5 million a year.
As budgets are squeezed and citizens are asked to do more with less, why shouldn鈥檛 governments do the same? If staff cuts are good for government departments, they should be good for governments.
That isn鈥檛 to say sa国际传媒 is in the same boat as Newfoundland and Labrador. That province has a population of 527,000 with 48 members of the House of Assembly, about one for every 11,000 people. In sa国际传媒, the ratio averages out to one MLA for every 55,000 people.
sa国际传媒 ranks third in sa国际传媒 for the number of people per elected representative 鈥� in Ontario, the ratio is 126,000 to one and in Quebec it鈥檚 65,000 to one. Alberta鈥檚 level of representation is close to sa国际传媒鈥檚 鈥� 48,000 to one.
If you yearn to get into provincial politics, go to Prince Edward Island, where your chances of getting elected are 10 times better than in sa国际传媒 鈥� sa国际传媒鈥檚 smallest province has one MLA for every 5,400 people.
We鈥檙e being a little mischievous to suggest cutting the number of MLAs in sa国际传媒, but only a little. Reducing the number of MLAs would bring howls of outrage, no doubt, but would people be any worse off?
Not if MLAs, particularly those in government, persist in representing the party to the people, instead of the other way around. They sit too much like obedient lumps on a log, voting the party line.
They cannot possibly believe the party is always right, or that the party position is always the best for the people of their riding.
Some issues demand unity, as voters have a right to expect MLAs to adhere to the main elements of the party platform. But more free votes would mean MLAs could represent voters instead of merely obeying party orders.
That backward-thinking malady prevails across the country, as expressed by federal Conservative candidate Joan Crockatt as she campaigned (successfully) in a 2012 Calgary byelection: 鈥淚f I鈥檓 a backbench MP, I鈥檓 just fine doing that. To me, the job is to support the prime minister in whatever way that he thinks.鈥�
We don鈥檛 elect people to make government their own private vocation. We elect them to represent us. Politicians who grow too comfortable in office are tempted to pursue their own interests, not ours.
And there are signs of this at every turn. In sa国际传媒, MLAs have awarded themselves six-figure salaries and a pension. They even get a 鈥渟everance payment鈥� if they鈥檙e defeated.
These nest-feathering arrangements, particularly the grotesque severance deal, make clear that politics has become a way of life.
Add to that generous housing allowances and other perks, and the painful reluctance with which sa国际传媒鈥檚 legislators agreed to make details of their expenses public, and you start to wonder how many of these pampered pets we can afford.
That isn鈥檛 a blanket criticism of MLAs, many of whom are hard-working and diligent, but of a system that tends to protect itself, rather than serving the people.
Eighty-five MLAs, each working hard to serve the people who elected them, is not too many, but one MLA who puts party and personal gain ahead of serving the people is one too many.
