Calgary city council kills pay freeze pitch in tie vote

Calgary’s mayor and councillors will be getting a boost their pay this year after all, despite several members rallying against the idea.

Coun. Raj Dhaliwal called the idea of freezing their salaries an act of solidarity with everyday Calgarians.

“Freezing council pay this year is not about the amount — bigger, smaller, whatever it is — it is about that we are listening to residents, and showing that we hear their concerns,” he said. “It’s a gesture of empathy and solidarity…”

But, his efforts fell flat.

A vote on whether to stop a pay increase for the 2025 year ended in a seven to seven tie Tuesday.

Couns. Dan McLean, Sonya Sharp, Andre Chabot, Terry Wong, Sean Chu, and Raj Dhaliwal, along with Mayor Jyoti Gondek, voted in favour of the freeze.

McLean, Sharp, Chabot, and Wong indicated last week they would bring the issue to council, supporting a freeze at 2024 pay rates until 2030.

Gondek, on the other hand, wanted to see a stop to raises for 2025 alone.

“This is just for ourselves, I do think it’s a good signal to send after we’ve had consecutive — we’ve asked the public to pay more every year on their taxes while we’ve spent more and then give ourselves another raise,” McLean said. “It’s unacceptable. I think it’s the right thing to do.”

Chabot says being in the public service isn’t about the pay.

“If you’re getting into this job for the salary, then you’re probably not getting into it for the right reasons,” he said.

Coun. Gian Carlo Carra was in disagreement.

“That did not make the splash or be the meaningful gesture that any of you thought it was. So, do not reconsider this, do not get involved with your pay, do not play these petty politics,” he said.

Coun. Jasmine Mian says the raise is reasonable.

“I think we should stand up and say ‘No, this is a reasonable adjustment that has reasonable parametres around it,'” she said. “It’s just so exhausting to show up to this job and see people pander to the narrative of things than the actual factual reality.”

Council pay and benefits are determined by the Council Compensation Review Committee (CCRC), established in 2002.

In subsequent years, CCRC’s were formed to market benchmark council compensation and make recommendations for changes, according to the city.

In July 2006, council approved a recommendation from the CCRC to use the annual change in the Alberta Average Weekly Earnings (AWE) as the basis for future increases.

Then, in 2017, council accepted another committee recommendation that allowed council to vote, before each election, to accept or reject the use of the AWE indicator for the next four year term.

A council vote ahead of the 2021 election approved the use of the AWE indicator and the raise was formally approved during budget deliberations in December.

This year’s pay increase amount to just over three per cent, bringing the salary for the city’s 14 councillors to $124,462.60 per year and the salary for the mayor to $220,298.83.

Last week, United Conservative Party (UCP) members voted to boost MLA salaries for the first time since 2013.