Never is the siren song of being “average” quite as loud as when city councillors want a pay raise. Suddenly, all they can talk about is being “average.”
Take Ladysmith (population 8,376), for example. The mayor and council there are in year three of three years of raises.
When they started, the mayor made $20,677 a year. Now he’s at $30,515. Councillors made $9,466 – now they’re at $14,475.
All because they want to be average – linking their wages to other “similar” cities. Of course, by raising their own wage, they raise other cities’ council wages because the average trends up.
It’s all nonsense. The “average” only matters if there is some sort of competitive market for city councillors. Shockingly, there isn’t – no city politicians jump from community to community to make more money at city hall. So why does being average matter?
Kudos to Ladysmith Coun. Steve Arnett, who turned down the raise.
Is Canada Off Track?
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