Thank you, Mr. Chair. In times of economic downturn and fiscal restraint, it's important to show leadership and I welcome this amendment to the Legislative Assembly and Executive Council Act that does exactly that. It puts MLAs in a position where we can show our commitment to the public service we provide and to clearly lead on the front of accepting a reduction in our own salaries so we can get to work and find those cost savings that our government now requires to provide the things we were elected on and the same standard of government services that people have relied on. I only wish that this had come first, quite frankly. I think it would have been much bolder. Considering the very limited amount of cost savings that this exercise will provide to the government, I think taking the lead on this should have come before we made the announcement for other salary adjustments for the other classes of employees. I have made comments on or asked questions of the Minister of Finance on excluded employees before, and I still strongly caution that we might be taking a heavy-handed approach to freezing salaries for all public servants. However, I do support this measure and I will be in full support of this bill. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Kieron Testart on Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
In the Legislative Assembly on February 29th, 2016. See this statement in context.
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
February 28th, 2016
See context to find out what was said next.