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Thursday, June 05, 2008

ken kowalski: i'll die in office.

And the closed-door wage hike fiasco continues... keeping in line with the laws of god, Barrhead-Morinville-Westlock Tory MLA Ken Kowalski isn't going to let no laws of man get in the way of his political career...

The provincial government's contentious new wage hikes for MLAs have Premier Ed Stelmach and Speaker Ken Kowalski in line to each reap at least $250,000 more in severance pay, with both on pace to top the $1-million mark when they leave office.

...

Kowalski, 62, also will pull the rip cord on a second golden parachute when he retires, as he'll receive hefty annual payments through an MLA pension plan that was axed by former premier Ralph Klein in 1993.

At the time the plan was killed, Kowalski was in line to receive about $61,500 a year in pension, but that number may have increased substantially over the years. Government officials, however, wouldn't provide detailed information.

A defiant Kowalski insisted Wednesday the pay increases weren't large enough and suggested he has no plans to leave politics for decades.

...

He suggested he plans to run for re-election four more times. "I'll never collect it," he quipped. "I'll die in office."

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wait... you mean that one day the Speaker's role might be filled by someone else?

The can happen?!?

I'm so confoozled.

Anonymous said...

After 11 years as Speaker and 29 years as an MLA I'm not sure what Kowalski would do in the real world. I don't know any other job that would let a former school teacher wear a robe and funny hat on a daily basis.

Jonathan said...

Did Kowalski just threaten himself?

Anonymous said...

Bloody extortion is what it is. Now we have the choice of keeping Kowalski on, or having to pay out a million bucks.

Anonymous said...

There's only four sure things in life: Life, Death, Taxes, and Ken Kowalski.

The man is practically an institution (like the Speaker's Mace). Maybe one day they'll carry him in to signify the opening of the legislature. Apparently he's worth that much in gold.