Sask Salaries Severance 07 08

REGINA: Through Freedom of Information requests, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) has learned the current Saskatchewan government is indeed paying less for ministerial staff than the previous NDP government.

As of November 1, the NDP government had 97 ministerial assistants in 20 departments whose monthly pay was $421,005 ($5,052,060 annually). In January, the Sask Party government had 77 chiefs of staff and ministerial assistants in 17 departments, whose monthly pay is $395,432 ($4,745,184 per year). These annual salaries averaged $52,083 for the NDP and $61,626 for the Sask Party.

"Deputy Premier Ken Krawetz previously asserted that although chiefs of staff were paid substantially more than those in the previous administration, the lower number of ministries and staff would put spending at roughly the same level," explained CTF Saskatchewan Director, Lee Harding. "That is what we found."

The CTF also looked into the severance packages given the 150 civil servants let go by the NDP during its last days in power. The estimate of $4.6 million announced in November last year appears correct. Almost $3.7 million in severance has already been agreed to, with twelve cases still in negotiation.

"Some gaps exist in this information," Harding acknowledged. "For example, the Ministry of Crown Corporations does not seem to have all its staff in place. Nevertheless, this would not change the conclusion that the new government is paying about as much for its departmental staff as the former one."

The salaries for ministerial staff in the new and former governments, the salaries of the current executive council, plus the severance of those let go by the NDP during its last days, are available at http://www.taxpayer.com/pdf/08JanSKCombined.pdf.