Miramichi MP can’t refuse pay raise, House of Commons says

The House of Commons says it had no choice but to increase the salary of a New Brunswick MP, whether he wanted the raise or not.

In an affidavit filed in Federal Court, House clerk Eric Janse says all members of Parliament must be paid the amounts set out in legislation, and it would be illegal and inconvenient to deviate from that.

Miramichi-Grand Lake Conservative MP Mike Dawson filed an application for judicial review in Federal Court in June, trying to stop Parliament from awarding him the $8,800 raise.

“The House Administration is of the view that the applicant's sessional allowance must, as a matter of law, be paid in the amount prescribed by the Parliament of Canada Act, including all applicable annual adjustments,” it says.

Allowing Dawson to turn down the increase would also require House staff “to undertake administrative measures” for Dawson alone “to establish and maintain a separate calculation of the Applicant's sessional allowance” every year for as long as he’s an MP.

The base salary for members of Parliament was $208,900 last year and rose April 1 to $217,700.

Under federal legislation, MP pay is indexed to a formula based on private-sector salary hikes.

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But Dawson believes it’s wrong to accept an $8,800 raise when many Canadians are struggling with the cost of living.

Dawson said that as a business owner, he was expected to easily deduct federal taxes from his employees’ pay and this shouldn’t be any more complicated.

“We seem to be all right to put somebody on the moon, but we can’t stop a pay raise,” he said. “Everything’s electronic for pay. It’s just a matter of clicking a button.”

The first-term MP has been donating his raise to charity but said he should be allowed to object to it altogether.

Olivier Duhaime, a spokesperson for House of Commons Speaker Francis Scarpaleggia, said neither Scarpaleggia nor Janse would grant an interview about the case.

Duhaime said full legal arguments in the case are expected to be filed in the next two months.