Should Alberta's top bureaucrats get a raise from $161,000 to $200,000 per year Should the current bonus, which ranges from $28,000 to $32,000 for all deputy ministers, be replaced with a new bonus plan that ranges from $0 to $60,000

There is nothing wrong with deputy ministers earning between $200,000 and $260,000 per year, provided there are clear criteria to ensure they actually deserve it.

Measuring competence and performance in the artificial world of government is no easy task. I call this world "artificial" because it has no bottom line. Government gets its money from taxpayers regardless of its performance.

Contrast this artificial world of government with the reality faced each day by Albertans in the private and non-profit sectors. We must perform well to please our clients, customers and donors, or face the prospect of going out of business. For most goods and services, consumers have the option of taking their business elsewhere. But taxes have to be paid whether the government does a good job or not.

Pay increases for deputy ministers and other senior officials should be tied to measurable performance standards, and taxpayers have a right to know, specifically, what those standards are.

Paying deputy ministers in the $200,000 to $260,000 range is fine if they produce good results, find efficiencies, and reduce costs. For example, if eliminating waste and reducing bureaucracy saves taxpayers $100 million per year, then paying an additional $10 million in salaries and bonuses to senior officials is a good deal for taxpayers.

Alberta's government has become a lot bigger in the past nine years, but has it become any better

Spending on government programs is up by 100% in just nine years, rising from $12.7 billion in 1996 to $25.5 billion today. This 100% spending increase is far, far bigger than Alberta's population growth (17%) and cumulative inflation (27%) during the same period. Alberta's government now employs 26,811 bureaucrats. That excludes nurses, teachers, doctors, policemen, firefighters and other public sector workers. The health ministry alone employs 1,378 bureaucrats - an eleven per cent increase over last year - and the Ministry of Restructuring and Government Efficiency employs 1,272.

Alberta's cabinet has grown from 17 ministers in 1992, to 24 ministers today. Taxpayers would be far better off paying 17 deputy ministers $200,000 each, rather than paying 24 deputy ministers $161,000 each.

Compensation for deputy ministers should be linked to clear and specific performance criteria, including the criterion of saving taxpayers money by finding efficiencies and reducing the size of government. Paying senior officials competitive salaries is good for taxpayers only if these people are required to make government better rather than bigger.

Senior officials should receive these proposed pay increases only after the government has established criteria that are both specific and measurable, including a criterion to reduce the size of Alberta's growing bureaucracy. And these raises should go to 17 deputy ministers, not 24.