The House of Commons has stated that it was necessary to raise the salary of a Member of Parliament from New Brunswick, regardless of the MP’s preference on the matter. In a sworn statement submitted to the Federal Court, House clerk Eric Janse emphasized that all MPs must receive the specified payment amounts outlined in legislation, and any deviation from this would violate the law and cause inconvenience.
Miramichi-Grand Lake Conservative MP Mike Dawson initiated legal action in June by seeking a judicial review in Federal Court to prevent Parliament from granting him an $8,800 raise. In response, Janse filed an affidavit last month asserting that the sessional allowance for the applicant must be paid in accordance with the Parliament of Canada Act, including all applicable annual adjustments.
Granting Dawson the option to decline the raise would necessitate House staff to implement specialized administrative procedures solely for him, involving the establishment and maintenance of a separate calculation of his sessional allowance each year during his tenure as an MP.
Last year, the base salary for MPs was $208,900 and increased to $217,700 on April 1 in line with federal legislation that indexes MP pay to a formula based on private-sector salary increments.
Despite the raise, Dawson holds the belief that accepting an $8,800 increase is inappropriate at a time when many Canadians are facing financial challenges. He compared the simplicity of deducting federal taxes from employee salaries in his business to the electronic process of adjusting pay rates, emphasizing that objecting to the raise should be straightforward.
As a gesture, the first-term MP has been donating his raise to charity but insists on the right to voice his objections to the raise entirely. House of Commons Speaker Francis Scarpaleggia’s spokesperson, Olivier Duhaime, mentioned that detailed legal arguments in the case are expected to be submitted within the next two months.