MONTRÉAL, QC : The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is calling on members of Parliament to change the law that will automatically raise their salaries on April 1.

“It’s wrong for politicians to take a pay hike while almost a million Canadians have lost their jobs and taxpayers are struggling,” said Renaud Brossard, Quebec Director for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation. “Last year, politicians said they couldn’t change the law because there wasn’t enough time. There’s plenty of time now. Politicians need to show we’re all in this together and change the law to stop these pay raises.”

Federal politicians raises are calculated based on the average increases negotiated with major corporate unions. According to Employment and social development Canada, the average value of these agreements totals 1.8 per cent.

While the federal government has not released final numbers, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation estimates the increase to be 1.8 per cent and would work out to:

• $3,200 for members of Parliament and senators;
• $4,700 for ministers; and,
• $6,400 for the prime minister.

However, this formula does not reflect the reality of Canadians who have lost jobs and businesses. According to data from Statistics Canada, there were 834,000 less Canadians with a job in January 2021 than there were in January 2020.

“Politicians have been telling us from the start that we’re all in this together,” said Brossard. “It’s time they live up to that claim and forego their raises in solidarity with the rest of us.”

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation has launched a petition calling on federal elected officials to reduce their salaries.