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A Conservative MP says he is asking the House of Commons to freeze his salary before parliamentarians get their annual pay bump in April.
New Brunswick MP Mike Dawson posted a letter on Facebook where he asks the clerk of the House to “make the necessary arrangements with the payroll and benefits administration” to ensure that his salary doesn’t increase.
“At a time when everyday Canadians are struggling to keep up with rising cost of living I cannot in good conscience accept the pay increase,” Dawson wrote in his letter.
“It’s frankly distasteful that parliamentarians are set to receive a raise while the working man (and woman) in this country hasn’t seen a decent raise in decades.”
Parliamentarians of all stripes will receive a salary bump because of the annual increases written in the legislation governing politicians’ pay. The precise number each year comes from tracking an index of wage settlements in the private sector, according to the House of Commons.
Employment and Social Development Canada has yet to publish the final indexed rate for 2025, but Dawson indicated in his letter that he anticipates it would be roughly around $10,000.
It’s not clear if Dawson can on his own reject the pay raise. CBC News has reached out to the House of Commons administration for clarification.
Still, the move garnered praise from the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.
“It takes courage to stand alone and do the right thing and Dawson is showing real guts to turn down this pay raise,” Franco Terrazzano, Canadian Taxpayers Federation director, said in a statement.
Based on the annual pay increase schedule, backbench MPs started making a yearly salary of more than $200,000 in 2024.
Salaries for special offices — like ministers, parliamentary secretaries, the Speaker and the prime minister — are higher. Prime ministers make more than $400,000 a year, while ministers and the leader of the Official Opposition are paid roughly $300,000.
Last week, Terazzano called on MPs to stop the automatic pay raises entirely.
“Real leadership would mean MPs cutting their pay, and, at the very least, politicians should put an end to the pay raises until the government stops borrowing money and starts paying down the debt,” he said in a statement.
