A strange thing happened back in late January.

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation called up the provincial government to find out how many tax dollars are spent funding the pension plan for provincial politicians (MLAs) each year. We asked for a copy of the latest financial reports for the plan, but were refused. 

The civil servant we spoke to indicated she didn’t feel she had the power to release the reports under existing regulations. We noted the regulations didn’t say anything about not releasing the reports publicly, but that didn’t get us anywhere. 

We also noted that pension reports for nurses, teachers, police and other government employees are all public … but that too got us nowhere.

If this news is starting to frustrate you, don’t take it out on your local MLA. Under the pension plan’s strange regulations, even they have no right to a copy of their pension report. The Minister of Finance and the Speaker are the only two politicians who have legal access to the report.

We contacted the Speaker about the matter and he said he would look into the situation further. He said he would have to talk to the “Review Commissioner” about the reports. The Review Commissioner is someone hired by the government to rule on politician pay, benefits and expense rules. The Speaker said he wasn’t even sure if the Commissioner was in the country.

Fortunately, the CTF reached the Commissioner at his office the next day and spoke with him about the matter. We can’t share the Commissioner’s comments, but we can note he seemed willing to review the matter … he just needs to be asked by the Speaker’s office to look into things.

While it remains to be seen how long it will take, or if taxpayers will get access to the MLA pension plan reports, here is why you should care: First, it’s not clear how much the government is putting into the MLA pension plan each year versus contributions by politicians out of their own pocket. The plan appears to be nothing like the golden plan enjoyed by federal politicians, but it still seems quite generous. Remember, most people don’t have a workplace pension.

For most government employee pension plans, employees are required to put in a set amount of money each year and the government (taxpayers) matches it. For example, a Department of Conservation employee will put in 9 per cent of their earnings this year and the government (taxpayers) will match it.

However, for MLAs, they only have to put in 7 per cent of earnings and the government puts in whatever amount is necessary to guarantee their retirement payments. 

Further, while most government employees have seen their contributions increase over the years (Eg. From 7 per cent of earnings to 9 per cent), MLAs haven’t seen an increase since their plan was started in 2005. Thus, taxpayers are likely putting in a lot more than MLAs are contributing.

Finally, it’s worth noting that it’s not clear how well the pension plan is doing. Will it require a bail out? Is it swimming in cash? Who knows?

One thing is for sure, the pension plan’s reports should be made public. Perhaps you can help encourage the Speaker’s office to get things moving along.