As a result of the charges laid today by the RCMP against three former and one current Nova Scotia MLAs, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation is renewing its call for the government to change the MLA pension eligibility to ensure that any MLA found by a Canadian court to have knowingly misused public money while in office and convicted of any resulting Criminal Code charges will not receive an MLA pension. Once someone is convicted of a crime for misconduct directly related to their public duties as an MLA they should forfeit their right to receive an MLA pension.
A copy of our report can be found here:http://taxpayer.com/issues/atlantic/reform-mla-pensions
Here are some numbers on what the MLAs charged will receive in estimated pension payments:
Richard Hurlburt (Yarmouth): $57,258
Dave Wilson (Glace Bay): $41,824
Russell MacKinnon (Cape Breton West): $46,584
Trevor Zinck (Dartmouth North) is not eligible until June 2011, if he serves that long he will receive $21,451
Is Canada Off Track?
Canada has problems. You see them at gas station. You see them at the grocery store. You see them on your taxes.
Is anyone listening to you to find out where you think Canada’s off track and what you think we could do to make things better?
You can tell us what you think by filling out the survey