List Week at the Star

Back from a long absence, I have but one thing to say; I have a problem with councillors making a big deal out of giving back their annual cost-of-living pay increase. As far as I can deduce, Toronto city councillors, like many other municipal job-holders, are entitled to two types of pay raise each year - regular pay raises due to promotions, good performance, accumulated time working, etc., and their annual cost-of-living increase, which I presume works to cover inflation and the naturally rising cost of living. Now, some Toronto city councillors have made some petition apparently, and they're trying to get all the other city councillors to sign this petition and give back their cost-of-living pay increase. Now I have several problems with this idea. Firstly, the media (Toronto Star?) has gone and put the faces of all these counsellors who haven't signed the petition on their front page with the headline "Why won't they give their pay back?" (or something to that effect, I've misplaced the article.) What is this but a blatant attempt to stir up discontent among people at their respective councillors? Secondly, if it weren't for the fact that these hard-working members of society are councillors, they would not have all this public hype surrounding them concerning giving back an increase that is actually, not really a raise - it is, after all, a cost-of-living increase. Thirdly is the fact that many of these unduly famous councillors have already given back their yearly pay raise a few months ago. My last issue with this is the fact that there are a handful of councillors who have taken that "initiative" to stir up this pot, and who have taken that effort to alienate themselves from the rest of city council by saying "Hey look at us, we're making this petition and we're signing it to make us look good and the rest of the councillors look like greedy, ungrateful bastards hoarding city cash in the face of an economic crisis".

Well shame on them! Not those on the front page of the Star, I mean those doing the "political grandstanding", or so it's called. Anyways, I sure wouldn't want to be one of those people, and if I knew that coming into a job with such great responsability would entail harassment from my coworkers all over a little pay raise, I certainly would not take that job.

Cheers

Kamster