Editor:
Re: Red-ink penalties scaled back for B.C. cabinet ministers, boosting their salaries, NOW opinion
Finance Minister Selina Robinson’s bogus justification for cabinet pay hikes is equal parts self-serving and self-destructive.
By defending the increases in salary for 25 of the most powerful individuals in the province as necessary to prevent a conflict of interest, Robinson is perpetuating a pejorative caricature of elected officials that they seek not to serve the public interest but instead their own.
According to her reasoning, the premier needs a pay raise in the tens of thousands so he doesn’t put his own financial interests ahead of meeting his official oath to serve the needs of five million-plus British Columbians.
Robinson’s justification not only insults British Columbians’ values and intelligence, it has the effect of driving the cynical view of politicians that is dangerous for trust in government. Furthermore, her justifications crumble when tested against reality, as self-preservation in the form of winning the support of the voting public to keep their job overrides any short term financial interests Robinson asserts can influence an elected member of cabinet to make decisions against delivering needed services in education and health care.
Due to the pandemic, British Columbians have and continue to make tremendous sacrifices, including economic. Instead of sharing in this sacrifice, the elites in the BC NDP government have made their compensation a priority, behaving along the lines of CEOs who have increased executive compensation while their employees incur financial losses linked to COVID-19.
Anita Gill
