The House of Commons stated that it was mandatory to raise the salary of a Member of Parliament from New Brunswick, even if the MP did not desire the increase. The House clerk, Eric Janse, emphasized in a filed affidavit that all MPs must receive the specified amounts outlined in legislation, and any deviation from that would be unlawful and inconvenient.
Miramichi-Grand Lake Conservative MP Mike Dawson had filed for a judicial review in Federal Court in an attempt to prevent Parliament from granting him an $8,800 raise. In response, Janse submitted an affidavit last month asserting that the sessional allowance for the applicant must legally be paid according to the Parliament of Canada Act, including any applicable annual adjustments.
Granting Dawson the option to decline the raise would necessitate House staff to annually manage a separate calculation of his sessional allowance, which would be a unique administrative burden. The base salary for MPs was $208,900 last year and increased to $217,700 on April 1, in accordance with federal legislation that ties MP pay adjustments to private-sector salary increments.
Dawson argued that accepting an $8,800 raise amidst financial struggles faced by many Canadians was ethically incorrect. He compared the simplicity of electronic pay processes to the complexity of halting a pay raise, emphasizing his ability to easily deduct federal taxes as a business owner.
The MP, who has been donating his raise to charitable causes, expressed his desire to have the option to completely reject the salary increase. Despite requests for interviews being declined by House of Commons Speaker Francis Scarpaleggia and Janse, further legal arguments in the case are anticipated to be submitted within the next two months.