Prentice sets himself apart with offer to save taxpayers money by continuing to collect bank salary

Alberta Tory leadership candidate Jim Prentice with his airplane, which was not supplied by the government, and which he can afford because he’s well paid by the Bank of Commerce, thanks very much!

Clearly setting himself apart from other Alberta Tory leadership candidates, frontrunner Jim Prentice has announced that if he is chosen by party members in September he will continue to collect his Canadian Imperial Bank of Canada salary while he is premier.

That way, Mr. Prentice explained, he will be in a position to charge the people of Alberta only $1 a year for his services and still live in a fashion that is appropriate for a Conservative first minister. “Also, I make a hell of a lot more as a bank vice-president than I will as premier, so this is a win-win for everyone!”

As for the other candidates, Prentice said, “they will cost you tens of thousands of dollars every year just for pay and benefits, and I won’t cost a cent – well, actually 100 cents, but no more.

“And that doesn’t even count the savings I’ll be able to generate through my access to the CIBC's financial experts and advisors, who are among the best in Canada,” he added.

“Really, the synergies between the banking industry and running a large, complex government like Alberta’s are just huge, so the spin-off benefits for the people of Alberta will really be terrific,” Prentice said. He also noted: “What’s more, the NDP will never again get to complain about me taking helicopter rides at taxpayer expense because the bank will be happy to buy me my own helicopter.”

“This is just a great deal for the people of Alberta and, if I may say so myself, a real selling point for my offer to help out by running the province,” Prentice said.

“Also, it means I won't be in a big hurry to get on a corporate board as soon as I leave office, which seems to be the pattern with most other Alberta cabinet members, especially premiers like I’m going to be,” he concluded.