The members of the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) are leaving the mystery surrounding their decision to give up an increase in their remuneration under a “trailer clause” which would have been added to a 30% bonus obtained last June.
A spokesperson for the CAQ parliamentary wing first indicated Tuesday to Duty that the members of the caucus chose to subtract their remuneration from an automatic annual increase matched to that of senior civil servants.
In a written statement, Marc Danis affirms that this decision follows the adoption in June of a law increasing the compensation of deputies by 30%, a gesture presented as a “catch-up” by Prime Minister François Legault.
“Since the annual allowance for members of the National Assembly has just been revised, and it has been in effect since last April, our caucus has made the decision not to be indexed this year,” declared Mr. Danis.
Before the adoption of the law formalizing the 30% “catch-up”, the basic compensation had increased from $59,661, in 1998, to $99,570, in 2021, then to $101,561, in 2022, following this annual increases in the remuneration of senior civil servants. The increase voted in June increased the annual compensation of deputies to $131,766.
It was impossible to know why the Caucus caucus refused to be “indexed”, when this decision was taken, whether it could apply to subsequent years or whether a law will be necessary to formalize everything. Mr. Danis said Thursday that he would not make any further statements on the subject.
Last week, the Minister of Finance, Eric Girard, was questioned about this “trailer clause” during a radio interview. Mr. Girard did not then know whether or not the deputies benefited from an adjustment of their remuneration according to that of the public sector, which would have been added to the “catch-up” of 30%.
“The deputies are employees of the National Assembly, they are not part of the scope of negotiations with the public sector,” he said, on the airwaves of 98.5 FM on November 8, committing to verify this hypothesis.
Two hours later, his cabinet invalidated it, specifying that the deputies had chosen to renounce the increase which would apply retroactively, to 1er April 2023.
“They won’t have it this year,” said press officer Claudia Loupret.
Budget increase
Contacted on this subject, the National Assembly confirmed the matching of the remuneration of deputies to the salary scales of higher jobs. However, it was not possible to verify how the CAQ’s decision would be administered.
“The National Assembly does not issue any comments on communications between the administration and parliamentary groups or on subjects that affect the personal information of parliamentarians,” replied spokesperson Béatrice Zacharie.
In October, the annual budget of the National Assembly had to be revised upwards by $4.4 million to finance the increase in the basic allowance of deputies, which went from $101,561 to $131,766 . Mme Zacharie had specified that the increase in the budget covered the period from June 7, 2023 to March 31, 2024.
This decision by the Office of the National Assembly (BAN) was supported on October 19 by members of the CAQ and the Liberal Party of Quebec. Those from Québec solidaire voted against. As for the PQ, it does not have the right to vote in the BAN due to its position as the third parliamentary group.
On Thursday, it was not yet possible to know what the position of the other parliamentary groups will be in the face of these annual increases. The PQ was unable to comment.
On the Liberal side, spokesperson Catherine Dostie said discussions will take place in caucus.
“We learned of the CAQ’s position in the media, so we are going to take the time to discuss it,” she said. This seems to demonstrate that the government is trying to make amends by trying at all costs to win back popular opinion in the midst of negotiations with the public sector. »
In June, the decision to increase the basic allowance of MPs by $30,000 aroused the opposition of three out of four Quebecers, according to a Léger poll paid for by QS.
Most of the QS elected officials, who were free to decide, refused this increase and indicated that they would give it back in the form of donations to organizations. The Parti Québécois deputies also refused this increase. They will make donations equivalent to what exceeds the percentage of the salary increase obtained by state employees as part of the current negotiations. The CAQ and the PLQ accepted the full increase.