The Editor:
Re: Mayors' Council salaries soar as B.C. politicians contemplate 'catastrophic' transit cuts (July 25, 2024)
I am gut wrenched to read that mayors across the Lower Mainland voted to raise their transportation council pay by 80 per cent from 2019 rates.
All these mayors already collect six-figure incomes from taxpayers and several of them are on Canada’s list of earners in the top one per cent.
Do they really need more money in their pockets when they receive high incomes, spending accounts, free transportation, meals and first class trips that are all publicly funded?
Do these mayors need to be reminded that seniors and people with disabilities in their communities are in crisis trying to live off extreme poverty income with no wage increase in sight?
The entitlement to raise their pay 22 times more than inflation and to use inflation as an excuse, when inflation is clearly not affecting them whatsoever, is utterly ridiculous.
Lets call it what it really is: these mayors feel left out of the corporate "greedflation."
Since when do public servants get paid over $1,000 an hour?
It's time to end the blatant conflict of interest where councillors and mayors vote themselves raises. This is disgusting, out of touch and selfish.
While our mayors are suckling the public purse and treating themselves to an all expenses paid Michelin meal, people struggling to get by in their communities are sharing posts on Facebook of where to find $2 expired chicken at Walmart.
- Tara Torrell, Port Coquitlam
