Alberta Politics & Government Thread 3.0

[Locke]

Originally Posted by malcolmk14

Here's what my salary would be in every jurisdisction in Canada this year:

NWT: $153,748
Yukon: $140,926
Nunavut: $131,151 *2024 numbers - no agreement for 2025
Manitoba: $123,540
Ontario: $119,979
Nova Scotia: $113,619
Saskatchewan: $111,501
BC: $109,520
New Brunswick: $105,408
Alberta: $105,173
Newfoundland: $97,889
Quebec: $82,517

The proposed 3%, 3% wage increase would put me at $111,578, just slightly above Saskatchewan and below Nova Scotia.

An immediate 17.5% wage increase would be needed to make us the highest paid province outside of the territories.

Not bad for full pension, benefits, lower cost of living than almost all of those places other than SK and working less than 200 days a year.

Why arent you moving to Winnipeg right now?

[CFO]

$110k max a year is a very fair wage. Considering their is a pension at the end of the rainbow. Can't get fired really.

The higher end wage provinces are places most don't want to live.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by CFO

$110k max a year is a very fair wage. Considering their is a pension at the end of the rainbow. Can't get fired really.

The higher end wage provinces are places most don't want to live.

I did the Taxes for an RCMP officer stationed in Nunavut and wow was that an eye-opener.

I get it. Its remote. Cost of living is astronomical, but I couldnt believe how much he brought in. Basically did a 3 year rotation out there, lived like a Monk and just banked.

[Geraldsh]

Only $105K? I would need double that to put up with those little shytes that know they can’t be spanked.

[BowRiverBruinsRule]

Originally Posted by Locke

Not bad for full pension, benefits, lower cost of living than almost all of those places other than SK and working less than 200 days a year.

Why arent you moving to Winnipeg right now?

Go be a teacher.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by BowRiverBruinsRule

Go be a teacher.

Does a Teacher want to trade to being a Tax Accountant?

Every job has it's ####.

[malcolmk14]

Originally Posted by CFO

$110k max a year is a very fair wage. Considering their is a pension at the end of the rainbow. Can't get fired really.

The higher end wage provinces are places most don't want to live.

Agreed, I have no complaints about my salary. I have other complaints that aren't ever going to be fixed. So might as well pay me to deal with them.

[CFO]

Originally Posted by malcolmk14

Agreed, I have no complaints about my salary. I have other complaints that aren't ever going to be fixed. So might as well pay me to deal with them.

Fair enough. I believe in most jobs in most industries we are all expected to do more with less and for less. Just how the world has changed.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by malcolmk14

Agreed, I have no complaints about my salary. I have other complaints that aren't ever going to be fixed. So might as well pay me to deal with them.

See, and this is an opinion that I can respect.

There be ####ery afoot...you want me to deal with it? Pay me or fix it yourself.

It'll do absolutely nothing to ameliorate class sizes which teachers will no doubt whine about a few more years down the road, it'll do nothing to resolve administrative nonsense, and it'll do nothing to fix any underlying issues.

They just want more money. And they'll trot out the same talking points then as they do now.

"Its not about the money!! Its about the class sizes! Think of the children!!"

[BowRiverBruinsRule]

Originally Posted by Locke

I did the Taxes for an RCMP officer stationed in Nunavut and wow was that an eye-opener.

I get it. Its remote. Cost of living is astronomical, but I couldnt believe how much he brought in. Basically did a 3 year rotation out there, lived like a Monk and just banked.

Go be a Mountie.

[BowRiverBruinsRule]

Originally Posted by Locke

Does a Teacher want to trade to being a Tax Accountant?

Every job has it's ####.

The teacher spiel gets old. I understand they get paid out of our taxes and they are public servants. And, it not like the UCP morons don't have the money. I don't see a thread about Tax Accountants, but think I remember someone wanting to start one. I am not a teacher, but was married to one.
I deal with young adults every day and leaving my job. My kids are good and maybe your kids are good, but there are a lot of kids that are not.

[kootenayguy9]

Originally Posted by Locke

See, and this is an opinion that I can respect.

There be ####ery afoot...you want me to deal with it? Pay me or fix it yourself.

It'll do absolutely nothing to ameliorate class sizes which teachers will no doubt whine about a few more years down the road, it'll do nothing to resolve administrative nonsense, and it'll do nothing to fix any underlying issues.

They just want more money. And they'll trot out the same talking points then as they do now.

"Its not about the money!! Its about the class sizes! Think of the children!!"

I get where you’re coming from Locke. It’s true that money alone won’t magically fix every issue in Alberta education. But in Alberta classrooms right now, it really isn’t just about a bigger paycheque. The concerns teachers keep raising class sizes, support for diverse learners, administrative overload aren’t side arguments, they’re the day-to-day realities that directly affect kids’ learning.

When a single teacher is responsible for 35–40 students (I have 122 students in PowerSchool), including many with complex needs, it limits how much individual attention anyone can realistically get. That’s not whining it is pointing out the conditions that shape outcomes for students. The “more money” part isn’t about teachers pocketing extra cash; it’s about funding enough staffing, specialists, and resources to make those class sizes manageable.

You’re right that teachers repeat these talking points year after year. But the reason they keep coming up is because the problems haven’t gone away. Until government and school boards address those root issues, the conversation will always sound the same.

[CFO]

So question teachers - if AB was to throw enough money at the teacher number size so that all classes maxed out at 20 kids. Would you take a pay cut and max out high end at $90k?

[Locke]

Originally Posted by kootenayguy9

I get where you’re coming from Locke. It’s true that money alone won’t magically fix every issue in Alberta education. But in Alberta classrooms right now, it really isn’t just about a bigger paycheque. The concerns teachers keep raising class sizes, support for diverse learners, administrative overload aren’t side arguments, they’re the day-to-day realities that directly affect kids’ learning.

When a single teacher is responsible for 35–40 students (I have 122 students in PowerSchool), including many with complex needs, it limits how much individual attention anyone can realistically get. That’s not whining it is pointing out the conditions that shape outcomes for students. The “more money” part isn’t about teachers pocketing extra cash; it’s about funding enough staffing, specialists, and resources to make those class sizes manageable.

You’re right that teachers repeat these talking points year after year. But the reason they keep coming up is because the problems haven’t gone away. Until government and school boards address those root issues, the conversation will always sound the same.

Yes. And I agree. Teachers need to get paid more but my issue is that within all of this we're not addressing the real underlying issues.

Its like watching a burning house and throwing cash at it hoping that'll douse the fire.

Getting paid more is a fact of life, everything else becomes more expensive but your pay staying the same isnt feasible, but I'd be more open if we actually were trying to solve the real problems.

Their jobs sound like Hell. We have to address that. The raises are ancillary but they're the easiest thing to fix.

There are still all of these fundamental problems that we as a society seem to be ignoring and that needs to stop.

[malcolmk14]

Originally Posted by CFO

So question teachers - if AB was to throw enough money at the teacher number size so that all classes maxed out at 20 kids. Would you take a pay cut and max out high end at $90k?

100% yes

[Wolven]

Originally Posted by CFO

So question teachers - if AB was to throw enough money at the teacher number size so that all classes maxed out at 20 kids. Would you take a pay cut and max out high end at $90k?

The province has had enough money to do both (hire teachers and pay them a respectable amount).

Imagine if:

• the UCP hadn't funneled $7.5B into Keystone XL
• the UCP hadn't dunked $1.3B to 2.5B in Sturgeon Refinery
• The UCP hadn't dumped $100M into their war room embarrassment
• Had not slashed corporate tax rates (costing the government $4.7B in revenue) so that corporations could have bigger profits, executives could get bigger bonuses, and Albertans would still be getting salary rollbacks and layoffs
• They had not gifted $83M to MHCare for unusable Turkish Tylenol
• They had not gifted charter schools $123M to benefit a handful of students.
• The renewable energy projects cancelled ($33B in investment in Alberta)
• The legal exposure of their coal policy flip flop ($15B in potential legal losses to coal corporations)
• The UCP hadn't immediately deposited their surplus from last year into the Heritage fund so they could pretend to be broke right now
• And so much more....

This government is so incompetent that instead of having piles of money to pay for all of the services we want, they are instead burning billions of our dollars to enable grifts and appease their overlords and then telling us to stop looking under the hood when everything comes crashing down around us.

They are literally relying on people being stupid and willing to turn on each other instead of putting all of our focus on the UCP's horrible mismanagement of the province and all out theft of our tax money.

[GGG]

Originally Posted by CFO

$110k max a year is a very fair wage. Considering their is a pension at the end of the rainbow. Can't get fired really.

The higher end wage provinces are places most don't want to live.

The pension is like a 9% contribution from the government. You do can give yourself the same pension.

[CFO]

Originally Posted by GGG

The pension is like a 9% contribution from the government. You do can give yourself the same pension.

Teachers put in 9% or gov matches an additional 9%?

[Duruss]

https://edmontonjournal.com/news/pol...tanding-clause

Smith said the province needs to be on par with benefits offered in other provinces and territories, and that Alberta offers the highest payments of up to $1,901 per month. She said her government is “creating parity.”

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“The $200 that the federal government is offering, we’ve been advocating for that. We’ve been asking them to cost share with us, and we’ve been asking them to get the other provinces to come up to our level. That’s part of what is happening there,” Smith said.

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“But if we just keep on adding and adding and continuing to increase the increment that we pay relative to other provinces, then we’re going to have the same problem of people coming here just to take advantage of our social programs.”


So the UCP is legedlating poverty for the disabled who they clearly see as undesirables.

[GGG]

Originally Posted by CFO

Teachers put in 9% or gov matches an additional 9%?

The government match is about 9%. What teachers are forced to put in is not material to a wage discussion because it comes out of their wages but it’s somewhere around 10.

My point is that if a private company is giving 5% match the difference between a private sector plan and a teachers gold plated plan we complain about is a 4% difference in wages. It’s minuscule, what keeps people from retiring like teachers is they don’t save the same % of total income.