Jackson Lafferty

Masi, Mr. Chair. I have to my left Mr. Darrin Ouellette. He is director of corporate services. To my right is Tim Mercer, the clerk.

Mr. Chair, as far as we know, yes, they all contribute as we do. Masi.

Masi, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, the answer would be yes. MLAs over the years, even continuing until this day, contributed 9 per cent of their salaries to the plan. Masi.

Masi, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, the current system was put in place, again, based on the recommendation of an independent compensation commission. There is another independent commission that is currently reviewing the MLAs' compensation as we speak, and I understand that they are considering this particular matter before them. I do hope and expect a report by this summer, and the plan will be to table that in the fall session. Mr. Chair, masi.

Masi, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, this has been brought up before, if it was retroactive, and it's not. They do take into effect April 1, 2018, and it is not retroactive. MLAs' salaries were frozen for 2016-2017. That was the decision that was made at that time. Masi.

Mr. Chair, that particular amount would amount to approximately $70,000.

Masi, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I am pleased to present the 2018-2019 estimates for the Legislative Assembly.

The Assembly is seeking an operations expenditure appropriation of $20,790,000 for the 2018-2019 fiscal year. This is an increase of $1,454,000, approximately a 7.5 per cent increase in funding from our 2017-2018 main estimates.

This budget represents the important work we will undertake during the upcoming fiscal year. The proposed funding will be used to advance strategic initiatives and address forced growth matters. These are:

Additional staff resources for our statutory offices to meet...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I would just like to say thank you to the Members. I just want to highlight that this will be the last time Mr. Ouellette is here before Committee of the Whole. I would like to thank him for all the services over the years provided to our Legislative Assembly and our corporate services. I just wanted to say Masi for your contribution.

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Masi, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, this is an area that we have been asking ourselves, as well, throughout Canada and even around the world. As far as we know, there are no other MLA plans in Canada in this position, and I can't think of any other, whether it be public or private sectors, across Canada that are in a similar situation as we are. We are quite unique over the last 20 years, and we're here today. Masi.

Masi, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, it has been quite some time. It has been over 20 years, since the late 1990s; approximately 20-plus years. Masi.