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BECAUSE I SAID SO: Cha-ching! Become a politician
Yes, I did write "politician." It's not a typo. One can hardly beat the pay cheque or perks that come along while appearing to represent the people who voted you into office and helped to hand you this oh-so wonderful career opportunity. Get this -- while serving only about 10 years, the pension alone could easily see one retire and sunning in the Caribbean by age 55. Freedom 55 could be yours. Just imagine. A "gold-plated" pension every hardworking Canadian deserves and dares to dream about. Are you sold yet? As an example, Liberal politician Pierre Pettigrew bought into the political sales pitch after he only served his constituents from 1996 to 2006, and he was substantially rewarded. "Pettigrew's total take from a decade in public service? Between salary, pension and benefits, the equivalent of at least $3 million," said an article published by Canadian Business Online on Friday (Oct. 30). An MP only has to serve for six years to qualify for a pension. Six years – now that's amazing. This statement alone should motive the most apathetic, however; likely hard-working, taxpaying Canadian drone to really start demanding regulations on MPs' pensions – or you might just as well join them. A Million Dollar Journey article published on Oct. 5 states, "A backbencher with six years on the job who retired at the end of this year would receive an annual pension of $27,213 once he or she turns 55, which is then adjusted for inflation every year. If the MP sticks around for another four years, his or her pension hits $43,355 a year." People, this is your hard-earned money and politicians are happily pocketing it right out from underneath those of us who slave each day with no raise, likely little to no benefits, no sick days, capped holiday time, an untrustworthy pension plan -- if you even have one -- and with the likely-hood of working well past the age of 65. And this is only if you're lucky enough to still be working in London and saving for that seemingly out-of-reach day when you no longer have to endure the daily grind on someone else's timetable. How would you like a raise like this one? Canadian Business Online says, "Our elected officials defend their apparent grab for cash. They point out that MPs used to enjoy a tax-free allowance of $22,500 a year. In 2001, Parliament scrapped that allowance. To offset it, MPs boosted their salaries, from $68,200 a year to $131,400." The article also stated, "Every MP earns at least $157,731 a year. The pay cheque doesn't vary by how long you've occupied your seat, or by your attendance in the Commons, or by your productivity. Each MP gets the same raise every year." It doesn't appear to matter how long you've served, what your credentials are, how productive you are or even how much time you spend in The House of Commons. The House only sits on average 130 days per year -- sounds pretty cushy. These pension qualifications and salaries are far from fair or right. They are unjust, greedy, sneaky, irresponsible and most of all, unaccountable. What other adjectives are used most these days by the general population when they talk and think about Canadian politics? The trust and belief in Canada's politicians is all but gone. Apathy is everywhere. It's "a time for change" alright, Steve. You said it. Heck, this statement was your platform used in the last election -- so start behaving "accountable" – politician's of all levels favourite buzz word these days -- and start changing the toxic relationship between politicians and voters in this country. Allowing the continuance of the seemingly self-serving and sense-of-entitled attitude of many of Canada's politicians must change and you are just the man to do it. Yeah right – I know I'm dreaming. Few Canadians know or even realize how much Canadian politicians actually earn. And it's no wonder. You can keep wondering too. It's all smoke and mirrors like most things regarding this topic. So how much do Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff and NDP leader Jack Layton take home each year? Oh, that's right – they're not telling. "Unlike politicians in the U.S. or Britain, our elected officials don't have to publicize details of their expense accounts. Unlike U.S. senators or congressional representatives, they aren't required to publicly disclose their approximate net worth or their sources of income…MoneySense asked Stephen Harper, Michael Ignatieff and Jack Layton to provide us with a breakdown of how much they're worth. Each of them declined," said the Canadian Business Online article. Well surprise, surprise – it appears to be a big secret and one they collectively want to keep. Honestly, these men should be setting the record straight, once and for all, especially in these most uncertain economic times where the words deficit, bankruptcy, recession and layoff are written and used daily. So seriously, why the big secret, boys? Are the numbers really that shameful for what you actually do for a living? Do you perhaps think you really don't deserve the amount of pay and perks you get paid, and disclosing these numbers would create an uproar? Or is this just another way to keep Canadians off-balance so they have nothing solid to bring forward to challenge with and point fingers? I tend to lean toward the latter. We do happen to know what our prime minister's salary is, but this number does not include his benefits, perks, travel or other expenses for which we all pay. Stephen Harper will earn $315,462 this year – plus, plus, plus -- ??? IS -- this a fair answer to the question: "How much is our prime minister's annual net worth?" Sounds like a simple question. So, what's the big deal? Answer the question. Or perhaps, as former U.S. President Bill Clinton once said, "It depends on what the meaning of the word 'is' is." So Londoners, setting aside all the bickering and nit-picking about fair, just and how much -- never you mind. You need not worry about the answers to these questions anymore. Lay your mind to rest. Follow your dreams and become one of them – become a politician…because I said so. -- -- -- -- Jodi Bryans is a London resident and writer. She has well over a decade of print and online journalism and advertising experience. She was born in London, Ontario, and grew up on a farm north of the city. Contact Jodi by e-mail (see link). Opinions are those of the author. E-MAIL: Jodi Bryans |
| Wow, did you just figure that out? That's the 'same old,same old' Want some other government math? It costs $300 a day to keep a prisioner in a federal prision. I say we give them $150 a day on a 5 day week to stay out of trouble, tax it and save over $1350 a week per prisioner. |
| By: ICE COLD on 11/03/2009 |
| I have worked in an MPs office on the Hill and I can attest to the fact that MPs work crazy long hours, often from 6am to 10 at night, they are constantly on the run from one meeting or event to the next if they are not busy with correspndance or legislative dossiers. They are back and forth to their constituancies which for many means weekly jet lag and no time with the family. Though the 160 thou might seem like a lot to us working stiffs but the average earning capacity of MPs if they were to be in the private sector is a great deal higher, so not only are they working more hours and longer weeks they are also taking a pay cut from what they would otherwise get if they had not gone into public office. And, then as a bonus, they have to put up with the vilification and denegration of what they do by articles like this one. So while there might well be a few backbenchers in any governing party who might not be working as hard as the others, there are a great many who have made great personal and economic sacrifices to serve in public office, sacrifices that there whole family pays for. Also, US politicians have to disclose their net worth because of huge problems with corruption and influence peddling; the way their system works you have to be pretty much a multi-mullionaire to have any chance of winning a campaign on the first place. So stop complaining until you've walked a mile in one of our leader's or MPs shoes and if your politician is a slacker boot him or her out of office! If you want to work over 80 hours a week, barely ever see your family and friends, have no job security, constantly have to watch for knives in your back, and be villified by the population at large... then by all means go for it, run for public office! |
| By: lise on 11/03/2009 |
| Well, I guess it would have been worse if Chrétien had not frozen MP salaries for years, until he balanced the budget. |
| By: Loraine Lamontagne on 11/04/2009 |
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