To the editor:
For the past few weeks, I have been researching the pension plan offered to members of Parliament (MPs) and found it to be a lavish expenditure of taxpayers’ money, Canadians cannot afford.
Canada is currently in debt for more than $580 billion, with the debt increasing everyday.
MPs receive between $157,000 and $314,000 a year, while the average Canadian earns $45,000 per year.
After six years of service, MPs are entitled to a pension when they reach the age of 55. Meanwhile, the government is raising the age of a Canadian pension to 67.
An MP’s pension is calculated at three per cent times years of service times salary. The average MP pension is $78,000 a year. Most
Many Canadians do not have work-related pensions. Their retirement income is based on what they save, with a small supplement from the government.
MPs pensions are not invested and subject to fluctuations. An MP’s pension is banked and the Canadian taxpayer ensures the fund grows at a rate of 10.4 per cent a year.
Most Canadians relying on investment income have seen their income decline due to record low interest rates.
Tony Clement, a longtime Conservative and future recipient of the MP pension plan, has been entrusted to review the plan. Is this not a conflict of interest?
Whenever I speak with Canadians, they tell me the MP pension plan is unfair and unaffordable. They then shrug and ask, “What can you do?”
The truth is individuals can do little, but a group can do a lot.
If everyone called or e-mailed their MP and expressed their concerns, the government would need to listen.
If everyone printed out a petition from the government website, filled it out urging an independent, apolitical review of MP pension plans and got others to sign it, their local MP would be required to present it in Parliament.
Silence implies consent. As long as we say nothing, MPs are free to assume the taxpayers see nothing wrong with their level of remuneration.
We are only powerless to affect change if we believe ourselves to be so.
Andree D’Andrea
Maple Ridge
