Leaders have to lead by example especially in a time of tough choices.

Newly elected MLAs need to show leadership by fixing their pension plan. It’s not just about the amount of money they get at retirement, although that’s worth talking about as well. It’s about the structure of Manitoba’s pension plans. It’s an issue worth billions. And fixing it needs to start with elected officials.

Here are some of the numbers. Former Progressive Conservative MLA Stuart Briese retired before the election and we estimate his pension will be worth about $15,000 per year for a total of $299,000 until age 90. NDP MLA Dave Chomiak lost his seat, but we estimate he’ll get $64,000 a year for a total of $1.7 million. Fellow NDP MLA Steve Ashton will get an estimated $86,000 a year for a total of $2.5 million.

Those pension payouts aren’t the biggest issue – it’s the amount those MLAs paid in. MLAs have a defined benefit pension. They pay in 7 per cent of their salaries. Then, when they retire, they get specific payouts based on their salaries and years of service. If their contributions don’t cover their payments, it doesn’t matter, they still get their money, and taxpayers are left to cover the shortfall.

For most of us, the amount we can take out of our RRSPs or pensions depends on what we put in and how well those investments performed. That type of plan is called a defined contribution pension. It’s the reason people are careful to make sure they’re saving enough and watching their investments closely.

We don’t know how much taxpayers may have to pay to top up MLA pensions because the previous government refused to release that information. But the province’s total pension liabilities are concerning.

The province estimates it will have to pay retired government employees $8.4 billion. But there’s only $6.1 billion in the pension funds. That means taxpayers are on the hook for a $2.3 billion shortfall. That’s about $1,824 per Manitoban.

Even worse, the numbers are going in the wrong direction – Manitoba’s unfunded pension liability is going up by more than $100 million per year.

And Manitoba isn’t the only place facing this problem – Statistics Canada reports that governments across the country put a combined $18.1 billion of taxpayers’ money into underfunded pension plans in 2012.

How does this happen? The reality is that it’s virtually impossible to plan for retirements that will happen decades from now. People are living longer and therefore drawing more payments than the planners thought they would. And the investments haven’t always grown as fast as hoped. But the bottom line is that taxpayers are on the hook for any failures in the crystal ball. And because of that, nearly every government employee pension plan in Canada is underfunded.

Eventually we’re going to have to deal with the huge liabilities connected to defined benefit pension plans. Of course, Manitoba has a lot of financial problems to address. The operational deficit is $773 million. The net debt is more than $21 billion. It cost $842 million just to cover the annual interest on the debt. So reforming government employee pension plans is just one item on a long to-do list.

But this issue is going to keep coming up. Presumably, the new government’s commitment to openness will mean previously undisclosed details of the MLA pension plan will come to light. This issue will surface again when former premier Greg Selinger retires and his considerable pension is calculated. And, of course, MLA pensions will be an issue at election time in four years.

Eventually MLAs will have to tackle pension reform. It’s hard to do that while they have a defined benefit pension plan themselves. Now is the time for MLAs to sign on to a pension plan that pays out based on what goes in so that we can start fixing the plans for all government employees.