Glen Korstom
Northern News Services

NNSL (Aug 11/99) - How MLAs are paid could change if a proposal from the MLA compensation commission is accepted.

New proposed pay amounts are set to be finalized by the Management and Services Committee either late this week or early next week, according to clerk David Hamilton.

The proposal could then be made into legislation for when the house sits again in September.

"Members would have to sit on committees and they will be penalized if they don't attend," Hamilton said of the proposed new structure.

Currently, all members make the basic $36,748 and ordinary members make an additional $18,665 as a constituency indemnity.

Cabinet ministers and the Speaker receive a smaller constituency indemnity of $6,222 but also receive a third amount.

For the Speaker and ministers that extra bonus is $57,916. For the premier the extra bonus is $62,975.

Ordinary members are paid an extra $207 for each day they attend a meeting of a standing or special committee of the legislative assembly when the house is not in session.

Members are entitled to a living allowance while attending sittings of the legislature, committee meetings or performing constituency duties.

Members are also provided with a set operating budget to defray the expenses of travel and administration while working for their constituents.

The proposed changes would streamline the current system, Hamilton said.

All these indemnities would be rolled into an annual salary and members would be required to sit on committees.

If they are absent from a committee meeting, they will be docked about $200 unless they have a good excuse.

"Going to a Dene Assembly is a good excuse. Members can't just say that they slept in or were hungover," Hamilton said.

"But it will help once they decide on the amounts for people to know what they're talking about."

But to Speaker Sam Gargan, the proposed changes will be clearer than the current system.

"The changes being proposed will make major strides in providing the transparency that the public wants and will make the system easier to understand," Gargan said.

"It will also reaffirm that our compensation system for MLAs is fair compensation for the work that they undertake and for their expenses in representing constituents.