Thank you, Madam Chair. I am pleased to provide opening comments on this matter as deputy chair of Caucus.

On October 20th, 2020, an independent Commission was established by the Speaker to review Members' compensation and benefits. This review is a requirement of section 35.1 of the Legislative Assembly and Executive Council Act and routinely takes place within the first two years of an Assembly.

The 19th Assembly's Commission was comprised of three Members, Mr. Joseph Handley, who was Commission chair, supported by Ms. Janet Toner and Mr. Glen Tait. In August 2021, the Commission submitted its report to the Speaker who then tabled it on December 7th, 2021. The Commission made 29 recommendations.

The Commissioner recommended no increase to MLA compensation basic salary amounts except for the allowable automatic adjustments based on Canadian consumer price index as per the Legislative Assembly and Executive Council Act. Our debate this afternoon will publicly review and consider each of the Commission's recommendations. The recommendations adopted by the House today will be considered by the Board of Management who will use them to draft and introduce legislation and amend existing regulations and policies.

Any changes to legislation will be brought back to the Assembly for consideration, hopefully later this sitting. Changes to regulations or policy resulting from the recommendations will be tabled by the Speaker consistent with legislation. All changes to MLA compensation and benefits resulting from this process will take effect at the commencement of the next Legislative Assembly.

This concludes my opening remarks, Madam Chair. Once other Members have offered general observations, I am prepared to introduce motions to consider the Commission's recommendations. Thank you, Madam Chair.