Canadian Taxpayer Fed. launches campaign against MP pensions

Ottawa - The Canadian Taxpayer Federation (CTF) launched a new campaign attacking the pensions of Canadian Members of Parliament, who are eligible for the pension plan after only six years in office at a rate of approximately $5,930 per month.

Are you aware that for every one dollar a Canadian MP contributes to the pension pool, the taxpayers are forced to pay $24? The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) is running a campaign now to inform Canadians about one of the richest pensions in the nation. New billboards were erected in five Canadian cities Wednesday: Calgary, Halifax, Ottawa, Regina and Vancouver. The purpose of the advertisements is to encourage the taxpayers to apply pressure on their MP to reform the 24-to-one ratio, which is something the Prime Minister’s Office said the House of Commons will tackle this autumn. In 2010-2011, sitting MPs and Senators contributed about $4.5 million in total to the pension fund. Meanwhile, the taxpayers, who most do not have an employer pension plan in the private sector, chipped in $110.7 million. Furthermore, since the MP pension fund is not invested in the market, the fund is given an annual interest rate of 10.4 percent. “So generous is the MP Pension Plan that it is not even legal under the Income Tax Act which mandates that no registered pension plan can exceed an accrual rate of 2% of salary for each year worked,” explained the CTF in a news release. Concerned citizens can sign the petition here or text “TAX” to 212121. CTF claims that it supports a severance package and a pension for MPs leaving office, but only one that fits within the realm of what the private sector does and one that is fair to the taxpayers of the country. “We the undersigned call upon you to shut down the current MP pension plan, create a $1-for-$1 matching RRSP-style pension plan for MPs and introduce a ‘Lavigne rule’ to take away the taxpayer-paid pension benefits from any parliamentarian who is convicted of a crime relating to their public office,” the petition states. “Taxpayers are fed up with footing the bill for pensions that are among the most lavish in Canada,” said Greg Thomas, CTF director, in an interview with Toronto Sun. “The average politician gets a monthly pension of $5,930. The average Canadian gets a pension [of] $538; and the number's actually less for women.”