Another BC Liberal MLA has announced he will not seek re-election. Dave Hayer, a three-term veteran in Surrey-Tynehead, says he will retire after the May 2013 election. Hayer was never a full cabinet minister, but did serve as a parliamentary secretary for a few years. His taxpayer-backed pension could be worth more than $824,000.

Hayer, if he bought back into the full MLA pension plan, will receive an annual pension of about $47,600 at age 65, increasing every year to more than $62,900 annually, should he live to be 80 years old. That works out to a lifetime pension of about $824,000.

In the 1996 election, the B.C. Liberals ran against what they called “gold-plated” MLA pension plans. After winning the 1996 election, the NDP substantially reduced MLA pensions, but the Gordon Campbell and the B.C. Liberal government brought back a gold-plated system in 2007, allowing MLAs to buy back service in the more lucrative system. While the government has refused to release a list of who bought back in, the CTF has only heard, anecdotally, of one MLA who did not purchase the missing service years. Last year, Premier Christy Clark told Global TV that she too bought back the missing years. Should Hayer have not back bought the missing time, he should be commended for his restraint on behalf of taxpayers.

The CTF is not opposed to MLAs receiving pensions, if they are fair and similar to what the private sector does—a dollar-for-dollar contribution plan, similar to what the NDP passed in 1996. But our research has shown that B.C. taxpayers put in more than $4 for every dollar the politicians pay. That’s far too sweet a package, given the difficult economic times and provincial deficit we are facing. 

On top of the pensions, retiring MLAs are eligible for up to 15 months of salary after they leave office. If an MLA gets a job before the end of the 15-month assistance period, the assistance is terminated—but if that job has an annual salary below $101,859, the taxpayer is on the hook for the difference.