MPs’ raise tops offer to civil service
OTTAWA — Federal politicians are getting a raise.
MPs are in line for a 2.3 per cent bump in pay effective April 1, an amount about five times the increase the federal government is offering its public servants.
Under legislation, MPs’ yearly salary increases are tied to the average wage settlements negotiated in private-sector companies with more than 500 employees. That means they are automatically entitled to the average 2.3 per cent wage hike private-sector employers handed their employees in 2014.
Senators, whose salary increases are tied to those of MPs, will also get a raise.
With the increase, the base salary of an MP will jump to $167,400 from $163,700. Senators, who now earn a base salary of $138,700, will get an increase to $142,000 — a 2.7 per cent increase thanks to a law stipulating senators must be paid $25,000 less than MPs.
The increase also applies to the additional salaries MPs and senators earn for extra duties, such as being cabinet ministers, Speakers, house leaders, Opposition leader, whips, deputy whips and committee chairs.
For example, the prime minister will now earn $167,400 on top of his base MP pay for a total salary of $334,800. Ministers, the Speaker and the leader of the opposition will make $247,500.
Politicians’ pay hikes have become a sensitive issue in the capital thanks to Treasury Board President Tony Clement’s vow to bring the pay and benefits of public servants in line with those of the private sector.
The 6,500 executives in the public service are still waiting to hear whether they are getting a raise for 2014-15, with only a few weeks left in the fiscal year. They took home a one per cent raise last year, less than the 1.5 per cent raise unionized employees received and the 2.2 per cent hike MPs got.
The government has also offered 17 federal unions a 0.5 per cent raise in each of the next three years.