Effective immediately, members of Parliament will receive another April Fools pay hike, while raising taxes on their constituents.
On Monday, MPs will collect more pay, including $17,000 more for the prime minister. The salary for a backbench MP now stands at $203,100, while a minister earns $299,900, and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau takes home $406,200 annually.
This represents a staggering $50,000 pay raise for the Prime Minister since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, positions such as House leaders, whips, and committee chairs earn more than the average MP.
Only 14% of respondents from a recent Leger poll support the pay increase while 80% oppose the measure.
“The poll results are crystal clear: Canadians don’t think MPs deserve another pay raise,” said Franco Terrazzano, Federal Director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation. “It looks like the only Canadians who strongly support an MP pay raise are the politicians themselves.”
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GUEST: Franco Terrazzano (@franco_nomics) on the upcoming April 1st carbon tax hike and MP pay raise.https://t.co/nWBeYli3kb
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Moreover, the Taxpayers Federation is none too pleased with the federal government, who continues to evade calls to cut taxes.
On Monday, the carbon tax increased to 17 cents per litre of gasoline, 21 cents per litre of diesel and 15 cents per cubic metre of natural gas.
The federal government simultaneously hiked its excise tax on alcohol by 2% without a parliamentary vote, a move that will cost taxpayers $40 million.
“MPs are taking more money out of Canadians’ pockets and stuffing more money into their own and that’s wrong,” continued Terrazzano. “MPs should be providing tax relief, not hiking taxes and their own pay.”
The average family will pay up to $911 more this year in carbon taxes after accounting rebates, according to the budgetary officer.
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On the same day federal MPs receive an annual $8500 raise, Canadians are hammered with a hike to Trudeau’s tax on everything, from $65 a ton to $80.
MORE: https://t.co/Ht8itiA0cI pic.twitter.com/PB7PRYM6KB
— Rebel News Canada (@RebelNews_CA) April 1, 2024
Meanwhile, elected officials continue to give themselves raises every April 1st, based on the average annual increase in union contracts for public corporations with 500 or more employees. A shadow committee consisting of privy council members and senior opposition party members oversees MP salaries.
The previous Conservative government froze MP salaries during hard economic times — a measure of goodwill not yet enacted by the Trudeau Liberals with Budget 2024 set to be tabled this month.
The former stopped automatic MP pay hikes in response to the 2008-09 recession, according to the Taxpayers Federation.
“We haven’t heard a single MP from any party forcefully try to stop the pay raise,” added Terrazzano. “All MPs should speak out against the tax hikes and politician pay raise.”
Parliamentary representatives in Canada now become the second-best paid electors worldwide, reported The National Post.
The United States typically pays members of Congress $236,433 annually. Followed by Canada ($203,100), Israel ($200,700), Australia ($200,175), and Singapore ($192,500).
