Mr. Speaker, I move, second by the Member for Nahendeh, that Bill 73, An Act to Amend the Legislative Assembly and Executive Council Act, No. 4, be read a second time.
Mr. Speaker, Bill 73 amends the Legislative Assembly and Executive Council Act to adjust the indemnities and allowances listed in Parts 1, 2 and 3 of Schedule C annually using the average change in the Consumer Price Index over the past five years.
Currently, MLA indemnities and allowances are adjusted each year on April 1st based on the CPI for the previous calendar year. If the status quo is maintained, MLA indemnities and allowances will increase by 6.8 percent on April 1st of this year.
Mr. Speaker, this bill will help avoid sharp increases in MLA pay in years when inflation is unusually and temporarily high. Implementing a five-year rolling average as a basis for future annual adjustments to MLA indemnities is the approach used in Manitoba, Mr. Speaker, and it will help smooth out any unusual and temporary spikes in inflation.
For April of 2023, this bill will reduce the annual adjustment from 6.8 percent to 3.02 percent.