Two ways the BC government could be saving money

I've noted in the past that, even though the BC Liberals have reduced the provincial deficit by $1 billion, they could still be doing much better as fiscal managers. Well, never let it be said that all I do is complain. Here are two suggestions for where a little waste could be cut, a few taxpayer dollars saved. Ready? Here we go.

1) Eliminate incentive payments in the civil service.

As Sean Holman at Public Eye Online reports:

British Columbia isn't following Quebec's lead by suspending incentive payments for top bureaucrats. Two months ago, the Charest administration introduced legislation to do just that, saving $68 million over the next two years. That decision affected senior executives and management personnel across the public sector, including those at the province's Crown corporations. In a news release, the ministers responsible said it was made in response to "concerns raised by the public in recent weeks about the need for everyone to contribute to the effort to reduce public spending." But a British Columbia government spokesperson has confirmed no similar measures are being taken in this province, where 14 of the public sector's highest paid executives received $100,000 or more in incentive payments in the past fiscal year across to recently released compensation disclosure statements. However, the Campbell administration has frozen the salary ranges for non-unionized employees for the next two years. The following is a complete list of the aforementioned 14 executives.

Read the rest ( including the list ) here.

Now, this could easily be chopped. Sure, some senior bureaucrats wouldn't be happy, but would anyone really care?

2) Reduce the amount of each individual MLA's per diem spending.

I came a little late to the Ida Chong controversy, but Jody Paterson has a decent editorial in the Times Colonist that should get us up to speed:

I browsed the government website for more information on the Capital City allowance that landed Chong in the news, and quickly found myself in a labyrinth of per diems and meeting payments I hadn't known existed.

The same arrangement that MLAs have is available to certain classes of civil servants. They get $47 a day, and $61 if their work on a particular day involves hanging out with an MLA or senior bureaucrats getting the higher rate.

Whether these people actually spend the money on food is entirely up to them. It's really just a non-taxable bonus on top of a (generous) salary.

The thousands of non-government people who sit on the province's many advisory boards, tribunals and review panels can also claim meal per diems. But I doubt many of them bother, seeing as the real money is in attending meetings, most of which pay from $350 to $750 per meeting.

I can't tell you what all the costs would add up to, because nothing is gathered in one place. I sense from the government's own slow response to my query for more information on this subject that they'd be hard-pressed to tell you, either.

But clearly it's a potful.

Consider this one small example: We paid almost $800,000 in the last fiscal year for 268 British Columbians to attend meetings of B.C.'s 75 Property Assessment Review panels. Some panel appointees made as much as $10,000 from the meetings, held Feb. 1 to March 15 every year for unhappy homeowners wanting to appeal their provincial assessments.

And that's just one small for-instance. Land yourself on any of the big government-appointed boards in B.C. and you'll get $750 every time you go to a meeting.

Read the rest.

You can't tell me that a few dollars couldn't be shaved off here or there off of the current per diems being paid. There's a lot of potential there. I'm not saying remove the per diems entirely - particularly with MLAs - but at least reduce them by, oh...say half? That would be a lot of money saved right off the bat.

There, see? Two more suggestions for how the province could continue battling its deficit. Never let it be said that I don't have civic spirit.