Alberta paid out nearly $20M to current and former MLAs last year

Earlier this week, the Alberta government released the most recent Report of Selected Payments.

The 155-page report outlines the various payments made to MLAs, including salary, benefits, and expense reimbursements, between 1 April 2019 and 31 March 2020.

I decided to go through the document, extract the data, and import it into a spreadsheet so I could compare amounts. You can see the spreadsheet here.

Current MLAs

First, here are the totals for the various payment categories for the 87 current MLAs. Let’s start with remuneration and benefits:

Compensation	$10,460,769
Retirement	$1,439,676
Fees	$14,600
Statutory	$1,477,150
Benefits	$1,167,031
Total	$14,559,226

Compensation is the base amount each MLA receives. For anyone who was reelected, the amount was $123,143 last year, and it was $117,767 for those who were elected for the first time last April.

Retirement is the retirement investment amount (equal to 13% of their indemnity allowance). For every current MLA, it was $16,548.

Fees are the amounts paid for serving on committees. Generally membership in a government committee is unpaid, but committee chairs are paid.

Statutory salary is an added amount on top of the base salary, and is for those who hold additional offices, such as premier, leader of the official opposition, ministers, government whips, and so on.

And, of course, benefits include CPP, WCB, a health plan, and—if the MLA chooses to do so—a matching contribution to their personal RRSP account.

Now for expense reimbursements:

Travel (Minister)	$326,740
Travel (MLA)	$1,256,768
Travel (other)	$22,767
Accommodation	$1,112,143
Total	$2,718,418

This is all pretty self-explanatory, but I should point out that accommodation includes not just accommodation expenses while travelling within the province on MLA business but also expenses incurred in maintaining a temporary residence to attend a legislative sitting or other MLA business.

Now let’s add them all up

Remuneration & benefits	$14,559,226
Expense reimbursements	$2,718,418
Other	$367,067
Total payments	$17,644,711

So, the Alberta government paid out over $17.6 million to current MLAs in salary, benefits, and expense reimbursements. (And “other”, but we’ll get to that in a bit.)

Unelected MLAs

However, that’s only for the ones who went on to be elected.

Because the last election occurred partway through the fiscal year, there were MLAs who didn’t get reelected but received a small amount in payments, well, small compared to the current MLAs. There were also some who didn’t seek reelection in 2019 but still received payments for the first few weeks.

Here’s what their remuneration information looks like for these 46 MLAs.

Compensation	$240,626
Retirement	$1,675
Fees	$0
Statutory	$52,532
Benefits	$70,171
Total	$365,004

And here are their reimbursements:

Travel (Minister)	$2,545
Travel (MLA)	$37,834
Travel (other)	$0
Accommodation	$2,481
Total	$42,860

Three of the MLAs also received a transition allowance, which is available for any MLA who ceased to be an MLA. Keep in mind that the transition allowance was cancelled in 2012, so only MLAs elected prior to 23 April 2012 are eligible for it.

It’s based on the highest rate of monthly base salary and expense allowance received by that MLA, multiplied by one month for each year of service prior to 20 March 1989 plus 3 months for each year of service subsequent to that date, based on the average monthly salary of the 3 calendar years in which the MLA received their highest salary.

MLA	Party	Transition
Wayne Drysdale	UCP	$151,239
Brian Mason	NDP	$384,683
David Swann	Liberal	$220,518
Total		$756,440

Drydsale was elected as a PC MLA in 2008 for the electoral district of Grande Prairie–Wapiti. He served as minister of transportation under Jim Prentice, and announced in 2018 that he wouldn’t run in the 2019 election. He was appointed to the Municipal Government Board earlier this year.

Mason was elected in a 2000 byelection in what is now the Edmonton–Highlands–Norwood electoral district. Between 2004 and 2014, he served as leader of the Alberta NDP party. After Rachel Notley became party leader, Mason served as minister of infrastructure and minister of transportation, as well as government house leader. He also announced his retirement in 2018.

Finally, Swann was elected during the 2004 election to represent the Calgary–Mountain View electoral district. He served as leader of the Alberta Liberal Party between 2008 and 2011 and then as interim leader from 2015 to 2017. He also announced his retirement in 2018.

Plus, there were transition payments made to 7 other former MLAs, one who ceased to be an MLA in 2012 and the rest in 2015:

MLA	Party	Cessation	Transition
Guy Boutilier	Wildrose	April 2012	$30,694
Heather Forsyth	Wildrose	May 2015	$68,397
Genia Leskiw	PC	May 2015	$29,393
Bridget Pastoor	PC	May 2015	$36,000
Raj Sherman	Liberal	May 2015	$43,123
George VanderBurg	PC	May 2015	$41,008
David Xiao	PC	May 2015	$24,757
Total			$273,372

Now, let’s add them up:

Remuneration & benefits	$365,004
Expense reimbursements	$42,860
Transition post-2015	$756,440
Transition pre-2015	$273,372
Other	$262,178
Total payments	$1,699,854

And if we add that to how much the government paid out to the still sitting MLAs, we’re left with a combined total of $19,344,565.

Remuneration

Now that we know the numbers, let’s look at some of the specifics.

For example, the MLA with the highest total remuneration last year was Jason Kenney, which shouldn’t be that surprising. The premier gets the highest additional allowance, at a total of $65,244 per year. Plus, he received a bit for the few weeks he was official opposition leader. In total, he received $217,621 last year.

The next highest is also not that surprising: Rachel Notley. She received $62,898 in statutory pay and total remuneration of $213,791.

There were actually another 20 MLAs who received over $200,000 last year:

Prasad Panda	Minister, infrastructure	$210,784
Leela Aheer	Minister, culture	$210,267
Jason Nixon	Minister, environment	$210,052
Ric McIver	Minister, transportation	$209,836
Doug Schweitzer	Minister, justice	$209,182
Devin Dreeshen	Minister, agriculture	$207,575
Rajan Sawhney	Minister, community services	$207,219
Nathan Cooper	Speaker of the legislature	$206,684
Josephine Pon	Minister, seniors	$206,551
Tyler Shandro	Minister, health	$206,520
Kaycee Madu	Minister, municipal affairs	$206,491
Nate Glubish	Minister, Service Alberta	$206,385
Rebecca Schulz	Minister, children’s services	$206,277
Rick Wilson	Minister, Indigenous relations	$206,276
Sonya Savage	Minister, energy	$206,038
Adriana LaGrange	Minister, education	$206,017
Jason Copping	Minister, labour	$205,215
Tanya Fir	Minister, economic development	$205,122
Travis Toews	Minister, finance	$204,959
Demetrios Nicolaides	Minister, advanced education	$203,659

All but 1 of the 20 are ministers, and each minister receives a $60,468 top up, the same amount as the leader of the opposition and the speaker of the legislature, who is Nathan Cooper, listed as 8th on the list and 10th highest overall.

The lowest paid MLA is Jackie Armstrong, a UCP member representing Fort Saskatchewan–Vegreville, who received $144,103 in remuneration (including benefits) last year. Only 2 other MLAs received under $145,000: Peter Singh and Muhammad Yaseen, both UCP members in Calgary.

There are 24 other MLAs who received under $150,000, 3 of whom are NDP members. The remaining 38 MLAs received between $150,000 and $200,000; although, technically, none of them received over $180,000.

Reimbursements

Next, let’s discuss travel expenses. These are expenses incurred while travelling as part of conducting business, either as a minister or as an MLA. This includes mileage for personal vehicle use, vehicle rentals, air fare, accommodation, meals, taxis, and parking.

Minister travel expenses

The minister claiming the most in travel expenses was Jason Kenney, who was paid $41,077 in travel reimbursements for work he did as premier. He also was reimbursed for $8,778 in MLA expenses.

The next highest travel expenses for a minister was for Tanya Fir, who received $25,077. Two others—Dale Nally and Sonya Savage—also received over $20,000 in travel expenses for minister work.

Rebecca Schulz received the lowest reimbursement for travel expenses as a current minister: $5,955. The next lowest were Tyler Shandro and Josephine Pon, who received $6,726 and $6,853, respectively.

Associate ministers were also able to claim travel expenses related to their work as associate ministers. Here’s how those break down:

Dale Nally	Natural gas & electricity	$21,610
Grant Hunter	Red tape reduction	$11,706
Jason Luan	Mental health & addictions	$7,754
Total		$41,070

MLA travel expenses

As far as MLA travel expenses go, Nate Horner, UCP MLA for Drumheller–Stettler, came in at the highest, having been reimbursed $42,114 for travel expenses related to MLA work. The next highest was Dan Williams, UCP for Peace River, who was reimbursed for $41,299. The 10 highest amounts that were reimbursed were either over $30,000 or just under it.

Nate Horner	UCP	Drumheller–Stettler	$42,114
Dan Williams	UCP	Peace River	$41,299
Nathan Cooper	UCP	Olds–Didsbury–Three Hills	$35,559
Martin Long	UCP	West Yellowhead	$34,925
David Hanson	UCP	Bonnyville–Cold Lake–St. Paul	$34,298
Joseph Schow	UCP	Cardston–Siksika	$33,457
Roger Reid	UCP	Livingstone–Macleod	$32,993
Jackie Armstrong-Homeniuk	UCP	Fort Saskatchewan–Vegreville	$31,246
Todd Loewen	UCP	Central Peace–Notley	$29,409
Mickey Amery	UCP	Calgary–Cross	$29,250

Here are the 10 MLAs with the 10 lowest reimbursesments for MLA travel expenses:

Rod Loyola	NDP	Edmonton-Ellerslie	$227
Adriana LaGrange	UCP	Red Deer-North	$530
Kaycee Madu	UCP	Edmonton-South West	$617
Nate Glubish	UCP	Strathcona-Sherwood Park	$629
Dale Nally	UCP	Morinville-St. Albert	$1,830
Jon Carson	NDP	Edmonton-West Henday	$1,980
Josephine Pon	UCP	Calgary-Beddington	$2,484
Janis Irwin	NDP	Edmonton-Highlands-Norwood	$2,539
Richard Feehan	NDP	Edmonton-Rutherford	$2,585
Tanya Fir	UCP	Calgary-Peigan	$2,932

Keep in mind that 6 of those 10 claimed travel expenses while ministers or associate ministers over the last year.

Other travel expenses

There were 6 MLAs who were reimbursed for what was labelled as “other” travel expenses, basically those incurred while serving on government boards, commissions, committees, or other bodies.

Drew Barnes	Fair Deal Panel	$7,929
Tany Yao	Fair Deal Panel	$5,598
Miranda Rosin	Fair Deal Panel	$5,572
Richard Gotfried	Pacific Northwest Economic Region Annual Summit	$2,660
Laila Goodridge	Parliamentary secretary	$682
Nathan Neudorf	Accompanied environment minister on tour near Pincher Creek	$326

Accommodations

Referred to technically as subsistence allowance, this consists of accommodation costs while travelling within the province on MLA business or maintaining a temporary residence to attend a legislative sitting or other MLA business.

Only 1 MLA, Kaycee Madu, received no reimbursements for these expenses. Every other MLA, even those living in the Edmonton area, were reimbursed for subsistence expenses.

The MLA who received the highest reimbursement in this area was Joseph Schow, the UCP MLA for Cardston–Siksika, at $24,155. The next highest was Leela Aheer, UCP MLA for Chestermere-Strathmore, who was reimbursed for only $30 less than Schow.

There were 31 MLAs who were each reimbursed for over $20,000 worth of subsistence expenses. Here are the 10 highest:

Joseph Schow	UCP	Cardston–Siksika	$24,155
Leela Aheer	UCP	Chestermere–Strathmore	$24,125
Tany Yao	UCP	Fort McMurray–Wood Buffalo	$24,024
Nathan Neudorf	UCP	Lethbridge–East	$23,392
Irfan Sabir	NDP	Calgary–McCall	$22,985
Jason Nixon	UCP	Rimbey–Rocky Mountain House–Sundre	$22,923
Shannon Phillips	NDP	Lethbridge–West	$22,839
Travis Toews	UCP	Grande Prairie–Wapiti	$22,719
David Hanson	UCP	Bonnyville–Cold Lake–St. Paul	$22,707
Josephine Pon	UCP	Calgary–Beddington	$22,470
Pat Rehn	UCP	Lesser Slave Lake	$22,342

Here are the 10 lowest:

Kaycee Madu	UCP	Edmonton–South West	$0
Nate Glubish	UCP	Strathcona–Sherwood Park	$213
Searle Turton	UCP	Spruce Grove–Stony Plain	$620
Jasvir Deol	NDP	Edmonton–Meadows	$769
Deron Bilous	NDP	Edmonton–Beverly–Clareview	$779
Rod Loyola	NDP	Edmonton–Ellerslie	$790
Marlin Schmidt	NDP	Edmonton–Gold Bar	$857
Rachel Notley	NDP	Edmonton–Strathcona	$857
Chris Nielsen	NDP	Edmonton–Decore	$913
Brad Rutherford	UCP	Leduc–Beaumont	$1,072

It shouldn’t be a surprise that these are all in the Edmonton area.

If we add all of the reimbursement amounts up, here are the 10 MLAs with the highest payouts:

Jason Kenney	UCP	Calgary–Lougheed	$67,225
Jason Nixon	UCP	Rimbey–Rocky Mountain House–Sundre	$62,664
Nate Horner	UCP	Drumheller–Stettler	$61,365
Drew Barnes	UCP	Cypress–Medicine Hat	$58,705
Joseph Schow	UCP	Cardston–Siksika	$57,612
Dan Williams	UCP	Peace River	$57,513
Travis Toews	UCP	Grande Prairie–Wapiti	$57,286
David Hanson	UCP	Bonnyville–Cold Lake–St. Paul	$57,005
Roger Reid	UCP	Livingstone–Macleod	$55,129
Ric McIver	UCP	Calgary–Hays	$54,877

It should be expected that Jason Kenney had the highest total payout for expense reimbursements. I’d think that the premier, regardless of party, would have the highest expense claims.

What’s interesting is that of the remaining 9, only 3 are ministers: Nixon, Toews, and McIver. Nate Horner is the non-minister MLA with the highest total expense reimbursement payout.

Here are the 10 lowest for total reimbursements:

Rod Loyola	NDP	Edmonton–Ellerslie	$1,017
Jon Carson	NDP	Edmonton–West Henday	$3,174
Janis Irwin	NDP	Edmonton–Highlands–Norwood	$3,993
David Eggen	NDP	Edmonton–North West	$4,164
David Shepherd	NDP	Edmonton–City Centre	$4,965
Richard Feehan	NDP	Edmonton–Rutherford	$5,052
Rakhi Pancholi	NDP	Edmonton–Whitemud	$6,097
Lori Sigurdson	NDP	Edmonton–Riverview	$6,200
Chris Nielsen	NDP	Edmonton–Decore	$6,223
Marie Renaud	NDP	St. Albert	$7,161

Other

There were 5 MLAs who received payments that don’t fall into any of these other categories:

Nate Horner	UCP	Drumheller–Stettler	$147,808
Glenn van Dijken	UCP	Athabasca–Barrhead–Westlock	$82,855
Janis Irwin	NDP	Edmonton–Highlands–Norwood	$79,101
Travis Toews	UCP	Grande Prairie–Wapiti	$34,884
Jason Luan	UCP	Calgary–Foothills	$22,419
Total			$367,067

Here are what they’re for:

• Horner: 2019 Moisture Deficiency Assessment payment made by Agriculture Financial Services Corporation. Horner is a rancher.
• van Dijken: 2019 Crop Post Harvest Assessment payment made by Agriculture Financial Services Corporation. van Dijken is a farmer.
• Irwin: Pension benefits under the Management Employees Pension Plan. Prior to being elected, Irwin had been a senior manager with the Government of Alberta for several years before being elected.
• Toews: Settlement payment made by Agriculture Financial Services Corporation through the 2019 Western Cattle Price Insurance Program. Toews is a rancher.
• Luan: Pension benefits under the Local Authorities Pension Plan. Prior to being elected, Luan was a city planner with the City of Calgary for over 20 years.

Lethbridge

And finally, since I live in Lethbridge, here’s how the 2 local MLAs fared:

Remuneration	Nathan Neudorf	Shannon Phillips
Compensation	$117,767	$123,143
Retirement	$16,548	$16,548
Fees	1$600	2$2,000
Statutory	$0	2$5,304
Benefits	$14,446	$11,539
Total	$149,361	$158,534

Reimbursement	Nathan Neudorf	Shannon Phillips
Travel (minister)	$0	$0
Travel (MLA)	$19,659	$20,935
Travel (other)	$326.00	$0
Accommodation	$23,392	$22,839
Total	$43,377	$43,774

So, Neudorf received a combined $192,738 (including reimbursements), and Phillips received a combined $202,308. Last year, Phillips received $291,345 (including reimbursement for expenses). The other years she’s been in office, she received $308,009 (2017–18), $294,477 (2016–17), and $260,628 (2015–16).

This was Neudorf’s first year in office.

Oh, one final thing. The provincial government also paid out nearly $3.5 million in pension payments (pp. 152–153) to former MLAs, their spouses, and other beneficiaries last year.

That money was paid out to 107 individuals.