Alberta legislature. (Lethbridge News Now)

By David Opinko

Report: Alberta government employees got $18.7-million in raises in 2020

Jan 13, 2021 | 9:42 PM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – According to documents obtained by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF), 7,384 people in the provincial government saw increases in pay.

CTF submitted a freedom of information request, asking for data on pay increases for all employees in every year since 2015.

Employees received a combined increase in compensation of $18,682,519 in 2020. Out of the six years of data, it is the smallest total pay hike.

The most recent amount includes $18,451,064 for 7,343 workers in bargaining units, $187,906 for 32 people in government management, and $43,549 for nine people in what was titled “exempt, opted out, and excluded GOA.”

Increases to Government of Alberta employee compensation. (Supplied by Government of Alberta / Canadian Taxpayers Federation)

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“So far it’s clear that we’re not all in this together,” said Franco Terrazzano, the CTF’s Alberta Director. “It’s unacceptable that thousands of bureaucrats received pay hikes while families and businesses were locked down and Premier Jason Kenney needs to reduce these costs on struggling taxpayers.”

Since 2015, employee compensation within the provincial government has gone up by $245-million.

“We can’t keep asking workers who lost their jobs or businesses to pay higher taxes so thousands of bureaucrats can collect bigger pay cheques,” said Terrazzano. “It’s time for government bureaucrats to share in the burden and take a cut.”

Back in December, Cypress-Medicine Hat MLA Drew Barnes asked all Alberta politicians and many bureaucrats to take a 20 per cent pay cut for a six-month period during the pandemic.

READ MORE: Southern Alberta MLA asks elected officials to take 20% pay cut

The document obtained by CTF can be viewed here.

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