Notice anything odd about the table below?
| Name | Community | Population | Pay |
| Reeve David Smith | RM of Torch River | 1,468 | $5,400 |
| Reeve Glen Dow | RM of Wilton | 1,494 | $61,689 |
Yes, the $61,689 stuck out at me too.
When I heard about the pay numbers in the RM of Wilton I couldn’t believe them. I didn’t have any firm province-wide data from Saskatchewan to immediately compare it with, but based on some province-wide pay figures for RMs and councils across Manitoba, I knew the figure was high (you can see the research by clicking here). Generally speaking, people seem to serve on an RM council as a form of public service, not for the money. In fact, many describe running again as no one else wants to do it.
Once I obtained the data from the RM of Wilton, I went on the provincial government’s web site and determined communities that were about the same size – hence how I came to ask Torch River for their data. As you can see, the RM of Wilton pay is about 11 times what the Reeve in the RM of Torch River made. Hmmm...that doesn't seem right does it? (Click here to see the data)
The other issue we're investigating in Wilton is the RM's decision to buy over $300,000 worth of gravel from the Reeve (click here to see relevent contract pages). We'll keep you posted.
Is Canada Off Track?
Canada has problems. You see them at gas station. You see them at the grocery store. You see them on your taxes.
Is anyone listening to you to find out where you think Canada’s off track and what you think we could do to make things better?
You can tell us what you think by filling out the survey