After telling KTW last month she wanted to review a scathing report on MP pensions by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo Conservative MP Cathy McLeod said she has had a chance to peruse the numbers.
“I would anticipate they’re [the CTF report] close to right,” she told KTW.
“They’re not 100 per cent right, but what I have gleaned from their particular article was a few things I was unaware of in terms of how this particular pension plan is structured.”
The CTF report indicated after six years in office, or by the next federal election in 2015, McLeod will be eligible to receive an annual pension of $35,385.
If McLeod stays on the job until 2019, the report stated her annual pension will jump to $56,227.
If she lives until the age of 80, McLeod will collect $1.21 million in pension over her lifetime.
Though she wouldn’t directly say whether she thought the pension was fair, McLeod acknowledged MP pensions are more generous than any other Canadian pension plan.
She said the pension issue needs to be addressed, adding she would support any changes her government decides to make to MP pension plans.
The CTF report stated taxpayers contribute $23 for every dollar an MP contributes to their pension.
The CTF said an alternative to the current pension scheme would be a pooled retirement-savings plan in which MPs can contribute and take the amount with them when they are done.
– Kamloops This Week
