Four in five Canadians oppose the upcoming pay raise for members of Parliament, according to a new poll.
While the poll showed that 80% of Canadians oppose the hike, only 13% support it, with 7% unsure.
The federal director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, Franco Terrazzano, said the findings of the Leger poll are decisive.
“The poll results are crystal clear: Canadians don’t think MPs deserve another pay raise,” he said. “It looks like the only Canadians who strongly support an MP pay raise are probably the politicians themselves.”
Of the 80% against the hike, just over three-quarters strongly oppose it, with the rest somewhat opposed.
The results reflect a consistent trend, mirroring the two previous years, where 80% and 79% of respondents opposed MPs getting pay raises.
MPs are granted yearly salary adjustments that mirror the average wage growth in union contracts with large corporations employing 500 staff or more.
Statistics Canada’s most recent data shows that the average wage increase in the private sector has increased by 4.2%. Utilizing these data, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation estimates that backbench MPs will see a pay increase of $8,100, ministers will see a pay raise of $11,900 and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s pay raise will amount to $16,200.
The hikes will result in backbench MPs getting a salary of $202,700, ministers making $299,300. Trudeau is projected to receive $405,400, according to the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.
The pay increase for MPs aligns with the scheduled carbon tax increase of April 1. A previous poll by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation found that 69% of Canadians opposed the upcoming carbon tax hike.
The carbon tax is set to rise by 23%, which has led to protests being planned across Canada.
Terrazzano said that not one MP has tried to stop the raise.
“On the very same day politicians take more money out of Canadians’ wallets with tax hikes, they’ll be stuffing more money into their own, and that’s wrong,” he said.
Between 2010 and 2013, in response to the recession of 2008-2009, the federal government led by Stephen Harper halted automatic pay raises for MPs.
“All MPs should speak out against the tax hikes and politicians’ pay raise,” said Terrazzano.
80% of Canadians opposing the hike mirrors the 79% against MPs taking their third pay raise during the pandemic on April 1, 2022.
During COVID-19, 31 jurisdictions took pay cuts.
New Zealand was one of the jurisdictions, and the government took a pay cut of 20% over six months to mirror the pain felt by its citizens.