Ed Raise

Is it me or when Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach said he's giving himself and cabinet a 30% raise that it's because they want to attract brighter and better people to public service--isn't he kind of saying that all the existing MLAs and all the candidates that ran weren't quite good enough?

Hey, don't get me wrong, I do think our elected officials should get paid more, but I would rather start with Edmonton city council. Those folks truly don't get paid well enough to attract brighter and better candidates (although some definitely are), but keep in mind they did just give themselves a big raise last year.

But that's the key, ... in both situations, our provincial and civic elected officials gave THEMSELVES the raise.

While I don't think many of them deserve it, the amount spent doesn't even compare to the other cost savings in many city departments that council brushes over.

And on another note, doesn't everyone wish city council approved the Calgary Trail and 23rd Avenue interchange as well as the southern LRT expansion, like a decade ago, and perhaps at different times? Now that both Calgary Trail AND 111 Street are filled with mass construction, getting to the airport is daunting in the day time.

As well, if city council went into some debt at the time to pay for these projects, the amount of interest paid would not have been as much as skyrocketing construction costs that have accumulated since.

Poor planning. Which is why with the amount of growth Edmonton is experiencing, the infrastructure spending can't keep up, so property taxes are raised by a lot each year, which simply hurts fixed income folks like seniors.