B.C. Premier Christy Clark reverses decision to give senior staff big raises

Who says complaining doesn't accomplish anything?

It did in British Columbia.

On Wednesday afternoon, B.C. Premier Christy Clark rescinded her government's decision of last week, to give significant raises to senior staff.

"The decision [to give raises] was very much at odds with what I talked about during the campaign," Clark told reporters.

"I've always believed and I said this during the election campaign: Leadership listening to people and fixing things when you realize that they're not right. British Columbians talked to me, they said this loud and clear, they didn't think this was right.

"I'm not satisfied that any of those raises were necessary for staff. So as of today I will rescind those changes."

The raises boosted salaries of top government aides — many of whom were working for the B.C. Liberal campaign in May — by as much as a whopping 18 per cent. As explained by CKNW radio, all chiefs of staff now lose their salary bumps except the premier's deputy chief of staff who is now doing the job of two former employees.

[ Related: Do senior public bureaucrats deserve pay and bonuses comparable to the private sector? ]

Now we can be cynical about this: We can ask why Clark didn't foresee the backlash at a time her government is asking all ministries and public sector unions to tighten their belts.

We can suggest that Clark changed her mind because she doesn't want any bad news in the midst of her byelection campaign to win a seat in the legislature.

And we might assume that this move is an attempt to change the channel on the province's poor job numbers highlighted in a Royal Bank report released on Wednesday.

[ Related: Alberta fires health service board over salary bonuses ]

Or, we can be thankful that a politician listened to the people, realized that she made a mistake, and is making things right.

For today, let's do the latter.

Thank you Premier Christy Clark!

(Photo courtesy of Reuters)

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