Peace River South MLA Mike Bernier said that the amount of money given to him as an MLA as a living allowance isn't enough.
"The money that I make as far as MLA doesn't cover my expenses in Victoria," he said.
MLAs must travel back and forth between the provincial capital and their home ridings depending on when the legislature is in session. MLAs whose ridings are a certain distance outside of the Lower Mainland, such as Bernier and North Peace MLA Pat Pimm, are partly refunded for their accommodation costs.
This can come by taking a maximum of about $1,600 a month with the condition that MLAs provide receipts, or a $1,000 monthly donation that comes without any such strings attached.
Any other costs have to be paid out by the MLA, whose base salary is over $100,000.
Bernier has chosen the $1,000 option, but according to him, that does not completely cover all his expenses.
"(The $1,000 a month) doesn't even cover my mortgage, let alone my insurance, strata or parking," he was quoted as saying in the Victoria Times-91原创. "There's a lot of money coming out of my pocket for housing and accommodations here."
Bernier was also quoted as saying that he is fine with the current arrangement.
Bernier later told the Dawson Creek Daily News that the option he has taken, to purchase a downtown Victoria one-bedroom condo, would save taxpayers money, and that he is not actually asking for more money in his living allowance.
"You're looking $800 to $1,000 a week when you go into hotels, sometimes even more," said Bernier. "Just to take $1,000 a month on my own is good on the taxpayer 鈥� instead of staying a hotel or renting a place, I chose just to take a $1,000 a month, which is the cheapest option that MLAs have."
Bernier said he plans to continue with the $1,000 option, although he is unsure how much he will spend this year in expenses.
However, other MLAs in rural ridings, such as the one Bernier resides in, have found ways to cut down their accommodation expenses below $1,000 a month.
For the period of April 31 to Dec. 31, 2012, there were about six of nine rural riding MLAs who were not cabinet ministers. Of these, about three took the $1,000 a month option, according to MLA travel expense report.
Two other longtime MLAs in the category 鈥� including Bernier's predecessor, Blair Lekstrom, and George Abbott 鈥� only put down about $1,000 or $4,000 in living expenses for the entire nine months that these most recent reports covered.
(Because Lekstrom was Minister of Transportation until Sept. 2012, he did not have to put down his living accommodation costs in the same way as Bernier. Similarly, Abbott was Minister of Education until September, so he did not have to report his finances in the same fashion as the other MLAs.)
Bernier said that he has been criticized by some members of the public for using more money for his living accommodations than Lekstrom. The current Liberal government has also been criticized for only spending 36 days in the legislature.
However, when asked if he would still purchase his condo if he knew the amount of time the legislature would sit this year, Bernier responded that given his MLA commitments, he is still in Victoria two or three days a week dealing with government matters.
As well, Bernier will have used fewer public dollars to pay for his home than his Peace River North MLA Pat Pimm. According to those same reports, Pimm claimed about $14,000 in living expenses between April and December 2012 鈥� or about $1,500 per month.
Pimm said that the cost of his current accommodations 鈥� a rental "two blocks from the Legislature" 鈥斅� is about $1,500 a month.
Pimm said he chooses to have the government reimburse him for his entire living costs, and in return he provides receipts to them. (Because he is now the agriculture minister, he is not obligated to report his finances in the same fashion as other MLAs.)
Other MLAs in remote/coastal ridings chose to go with the $1,000 a month option, for a total of $9,000. Only one other remote/coastal MLA took another route to receive about $12,600 in accommodation money.
Pimm also said that under his current arrangement, he "didn't go for the more expensive option."
Pimm noted that his apartment allows him to "put [money] back into the Victoria economy," and that his current arrangement does not allow him to pocket any money between the $1,000 he would receive were he to do it in the manner of other MLAs, which he felt could open him up to criticism.
MLAs in provinces throughout Canada are given living allowances to help pay for the cost for them to reside in their respective provincial capitals. In Alberta, the legislature recently agreed to cap them at around $1,800 a month.
