Quote:
Originally Posted by Cowperson
Generally, the argument in favour of these pension amounts is that you are looking to attract quality people and secondly, these quality people would typically be sacrificing very lucrative careers in the private sector for what might be only a limited time and you have to compensate them for that to make it interesting.
I'm not saying that this tactic is actually attracting such high quality people. Just pointing out the logic.
From my observation, politics doesn't necessarily attract the best and brightest among us but rather those most motivated by power. Those are often two different things.
Therefore, generous pensions for this "thankless job" might not be necessary since you're getting people who might just do it for free simply because of how they're self-motivated.
I like the theory of very generous pensions to attract the best and brightest but those aren't necessarily people who would want to be involved in this type of activity anyway.
It might be interesting to look at the current Parliament and audit what each were doing and how much they were paid before they were elected.
Cowperson
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I doubt it's a binary one or the other cause and effect. I suspect if they reduced the pensions to be a fraction of what they are today you would get worse 'applicants'. Sure there's a few people who'd do it for the love of the job or their country, but you'd miss all the people who fall towards the middle of the spectrum, who would be good at the job, love their country, but wouldn't mind making their family comfortable.
I don't know the perfect answer, but the popular view that politicians are not competent enough for the job, and are paid too much just seems so conflicting to me. If you want top tier talent, you simply have to pay for it. I like my country, my province and my city, but to deal with all the crap politicians have to deal with, I doubt I could be paid enough to run for any kind of office to support and of these. And I'm sure when push comes to shove, that would be a very common view.