The House of Commons stated that it was mandatory to increase the salary of a Member of Parliament from New Brunswick, regardless of his personal preference. In a legal document submitted to the Federal Court, House clerk Eric Janse emphasized that all MPs must receive the specified payment amounts as outlined in the legislation, and any deviation from this would be unlawful and inconvenient.
Miramichi-Grand Lake Conservative MP Mike Dawson had filed a judicial review application in June to challenge the $8,800 raise, with Janse responding to the affidavit last month. The House Administration asserted that the sessional allowance for the applicant must be paid according to the Parliament of Canada Act, including any adjustments.
Granting Dawson the option to decline the raise would necessitate individualized administrative actions by House staff to calculate and maintain a separate sessional allowance specifically for him annually throughout his term. The base salary for MPs was $208,900 last year, increasing to $217,700 on April 1, in line with federal legislation that ties MP pay adjustments to private-sector salary trends.
Despite the raise, Dawson expressed his belief that accepting the increase was inappropriate given the financial struggles faced by many Canadians. Drawing from his experience as a business owner, he highlighted the simplicity of deducting federal taxes from employees’ pay and suggested that refusing the raise should be a straightforward process.
While Dawson has chosen to donate his raise to charity, he argued that he should have the right to object to the raise entirely. House of Commons Speaker Francis Scarpaleggia’s spokesperson, Olivier Duhaime, mentioned that Scarpaleggia and Janse were unavailable for interviews on the matter. The full legal arguments for the case are anticipated to be submitted within the next two months.