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An automatic raise for council has made Naheed Nenshi the best-paid mayor in the country.

Salaries for Calgary’s mayor and councillors rose 3.8 per cent as of Jan. 1 after living with a one-year pay freeze in 2014. Each councillor now makes $115,297.92 a year, while Mayor Nenshi’s annual salary is $216,380.44.

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Nenshi is the top-paid civic politician in the country, after the new mayor of Brampton, Ont., cut her own pay to $168,850 instead of something well north of $200,000. Mayor Linda Jeffrey made the move after trouncing the former mayor, who was embroiled in an expense scandal, in last October’s election.

Nenshi got cheeky when asked if the raise was worth it for him and council.

“Of course. Every penny of it,” he said.

Calgary is the third-largest municipality in Canada after Montreal and Toronto, where the mayor makes $177,499.

“It’s a very large city, so I’d say he’s worth it. Seeing the amount of work (Nenshi) does, there’s no question,” Druh Farrell said.