News flash for Queen’s Park: fatter paycheques for politicians don’t help average families. 

Ontario MPPs gave themselves a 35 per cent pay raise, bumping their salaries to $157,350 in 2025. They also gave themselves a shiny new pension plan.

The pay raise made Ontario MPPs some of the highest-paid politicians in Canada and the United States.

“MPPs are people too, they have to pay groceries, they have to pay rent, (spend) time away from their families,” saidFinance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy.

Bethlenfalvy made these comments when he was making two and half times the average Ontarian’s wage. He now makes three and a half times the average Ontarian’s wage.

Queue the world’s smallest violen. 

The press release justifying the pay raise specifically said MPPs’ salaries “lag behind those of comparable elected representatives.”

But here’s the problem: that’s just not true. 

Ontario politicians are the highest paid provincial politicians in Canada and it’s not close. Second place is Quebec where provincial politicians were paid $15,725 less in 2025. The average provincial politicians in Canada were paid $41,972 less.

Across Canada and the United States’ 60 provinces and states, Ontario MPPs had the fourth-highest salary and the highest in Canada among regional politicians, as of 2025. 

The median state representative in the United States took a salary of $45,002 CAD in 2025. That’s less than a third of an Ontario MPP’s salary.

When state politicians in the United States do a similar job to Ontario MPPs at a fraction of the cost, Ontario taxpayers should question if they’re getting their money’s worth.

Politicians defend giving themselves pay raises by claiming higher politician salaries attracts more talented people to run for office.

“We’re not going to build the future of this province by excluding the people who have the qualifications and have the knowledge to move us forward,” said NDP House Leader John Vanthof.

But being an MPP is about serving your constituents and the province. If someone is entering politics for the plump salary, that person isn’t in it for the right reasons.

Let’s move beyond the rhetoric and look at the numbers because here’s the key point: Regions that pay their politicians less are doing just fine.

Texas, a state with a population of around 31.7 million, paid its state representatives $10,331 each last year. 

There’s no universe where Ontarians are getting 15 times the value from their politicians compared to Texans. 

Texas is 36 per cent wealthier on a per-person basis than Ontario. The average Ontarian’s salary was $63,200 while the average Texan’s salary was $86,998 in 2024.

The $157,350 paycheque for MPPs is just the tip of the iceberg.

Of the 124 MPPs sitting in the Ontario legislature, a majority hold a position or appointment that allows them to take a second salary from taxpayers. 

The premier took a top-up that brought his annual salary to $282,129. 

Ford used to have a cabinet of 21 ministers but has since ballooned it to 36. His 27 cabinet ministers get a 42.3 per cent salary top up, eight associate ministers get a 19.2 per cent top up. The 38 parliamentary assistants all get a 14.3 per cent top up.

The opposition leaders, house speaker, and committee chairs all get salary top-ups as well. 

Ontario taxpayers see the games MPPs are trying to play and they aren’t fooled.

Eighty-six per cent of Ontarians opposed MPPs taking another pay raise this year after their 35 per cent raise, according to a poll from Leger. MPPs took the salary bump anyways, boosting their pay to $163,275.

When 77 per cent of Ontarians say they are cutting back on spending to deal with the rising cost of living, taxpayers don’t want to give politicians more of their hard-earned cash.

Ontarians know giving MPPs wads of cash isn’t going to put more money in the pockets of taxpayers, cut down on hospital wait times or improve students’ test scores.

It doesn’t take “guts” to vote to give yourself a pay raise, as the NDP’s house leader said. The opposite is true.

A gutsy politician would look their colleagues in the eyes and tell them it’s wrong to take another taxpayer-funded pay raise while ordinary Ontarians are struggling to make ends meet.