Morrison saluted with Canadian Taxpayers Federation’s Taxfighter Award

Former Southwest Saskatchewan Reform Party MP Lee Morrison was one of three individuals recognized by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation during a reception on June 20.

Morrison, along with fellow former Reform Party MPs Preston Manning and Werner Schmidt, received the CTF’s TaxFighter Award.

In presenting the honour, the Taxpayers Federation highlights the three former MPs opted out of the goldplated MP pension plan in 1993 and despite all attempts by the Chrétien government to get them to break their campaign promise and opt back in, all three held strong in opposition to the plan at that time. The CTF estimates that Morrison would have been eligible for an MP pension of $38,560 per year, totalling $451,043 to date. The CTF further estimates that the lifetime payments to Manning ($2,155,431), Schmidt ($758,026) and Morrison ($805,013), would combine for over $3.7 million in foregone payments.

“These three men are truly heroes. We know that an award may not replace the money they have sacrificed, but we hope that it can inspire future leaders to learn from their example,” said CTF President Troy Lanigan. “You often hear about the politicians who break their words, but you rarely hear about those who kept them,” Lanigan noted. “It’s important that we congratulate the good with the same vigour that we castigate the bad. Many of us can claim to have contributed hours, days or years towards the fight to reform the gold-plated MP pension plan, but only three men can claim to have combined to contributed over $3.7 million in forgone pension payments.”