Following council’s hefty pay increase of 28-38% slated for 2027, the coffee shops in Sidney (and elsewhere) will not only be buzzing from the caffeine.
There are several troubling governance aspects and questions about this issue.
Why did it take 14 years for council salaries to be hiked which finally resulted in this outsized increase?
Why did some councillors vote against making the hike more acceptable to taxpayers by phasing in the increase over the next four years?
Why did Couns. Steve Duck, Scott Garnett and Richard Novak object to postponing the vote until to allow missing councillor Chad Rintoul to attend and weigh in? Was his absence justified during this important vote?
Was there a conflict of interest having staff prepare a report bringing council’s compensation (read, their boss) in line with the median salary of eight other like-sized municipalities in the region?
How meaningful are those comparator salaries when it results in endless and significant bumps in pay across the region?
What happens if the mayor in January 2027 refuses a pay hike, do council salaries still automatically jump by 38%? Will a future council nullify the remuneration bylaw?
Given these questions, it’s expected those candidates running for council this fall will stake out a position on this controversial issue.
The optics of approving big pay hikes – while council is supposedly taming a potential 12.4% property tax jump and voters are struggling with the rising cost of living – are unbelievable.
DIG DEEPER
Sidney council and mayor salaries to increase by 28-38% in 2027, Peninsula News Review, Feb. 10, 2026. https://peninsulanewsreview.com/2026/02/12/sidney-council-and-mayor-salaries-to-increase-by-28-38-in-2027/
https://peninsulanewsreview.com/2026/02/12/sidney-council-and-mayor-salaries-to-increase-by-28-38-in-2027/
-30-