Prime Minister Paul Martin is under fire for approving major pay increases to senior political staffers just days before he froze salaries for other public servants.

The Globe and Mail says one of Martin's first acts after taking power was to boost the pay for 29 chiefs of staff of federal cabinet ministers by $32,000 per year.

The increase means the chiefs of staff will earn up to $147,300 annually, some $12,100 more than most MPs earn.

Martin later followed his generosity by freezing hiring in the public service and putting a hold on all capital projects worth more than $5 million.

Mario Lague, the Prime Minister's communications director, said the increase in salary reflects a new level of responsibility for the chiefs of staff.

"Ministers' offices are going to be asked to do much more, dealing with parliamentary secretaries, dealing with parliamentarians so . . . the whole role is enhanced," Lague told The Globe and Mail.

The changes are part of Martin's vow to address the so-called democratic deficit and give MPs more power in legislative matters, in part by increasing the importance of parliamentary committees.

But one former executive assistant to a cabinet member in Jean Chretien's government disputed Lague's explanation.

"There's no new tasks, and who did they think used to deal with committees?" he said.

Lague also said the overall total for exempt staff salaries has not changed from the Chretien government, meaning ministers still have an annual budget of $828,000 for staff salaries. He said that means there will be fewer senior staff in minister's offices.

News of the raises didn't sit well with John Williams, the Canadian Alliance critic of government waste.

"The optics of the new Prime Minister are not good," Williams told The Globe and Mail.

"I would have thought (Martin) would have waited until he had some experience before he started messing around with these reclassifications, especially when 175,000 (public servants) got their classification frozen, whether they deserve it or not."