Five years ago, a dispute broke out between Quebec and Ottawa over the location of the statue entitled The deputy arriving in Quebec. Montmorency Park, in Old Quebec, is a federal responsibility, so there was no question of welcoming an elected member of the Parliament of Lower Canada there, since it is dedicated to the history of United Canada.
The statue represents the member in winter clothes, with a bag and a barrel containing food to eat during his stay in Quebec, since the parliamentarians did not benefit from any allowance at the time.
In 2013, former Supreme Court judge Claire L’Heureux-Dubé capped her report on the working conditions and pension plan of members of the National Assembly with an excerpt from a speech by Louis-Joseph Papineau which testifies to the antiquity of the debate on this question.
” In this country […]it would be stifling the germ of the finest talents not to make it easier for those who show good dispositions, but to whom fortune has been ungrateful, to sit in this chamber,” said the leader of the Parti patriote.
Members of the National Assembly no longer have to provide for their subsistence or accommodation during the parliamentary session, but the question of their remuneration comes up periodically in the news, only to be swept under the carpet.
Last week, an umpteenth committee, made up of two former MPs and a human resources expert, recommended giving them a 21% pay rise, a catch-up considered the “minimum acceptable”, which would bring their total remuneration to $169,950, if we include an annual expense allowance of $38,184, which does not exist in other Canadian provinces. Not to mention an additional indemnity that can reach several tens of thousands of dollars, which is attached to the various parliamentary functions and which a large number of deputies receive.
They invoke the atypical schedules which complicate the family-work balance, the many trips between the capital and their constituency, the difficult retraining when leaving politics, as well as more worrying security conditions than in the past.
Much better paid positions can be found everywhere in the public sector. Many deputy ministers are paid more than their bosses. Even the Prime Minister’s recommended salary of $270,120 seems ridiculously low given the weight of his responsibilities.
In its 2013 report, the committee chaired by Judge L’Heureux-Dubé used the best available evaluation methods to establish comparisons, but it recognized its inability to include in its calculations a widely held conception of public service. , according to which those who devote themselves to it must necessarily be paid less than in the private sector, not to mention the unfavorable prejudice from which the political class suffers.
It recommended a salary increase of around 20%, but it would have been at zero cost, insofar as the exceptionally generous pension scheme enjoyed by MEPs would have been reduced, while the proposal of the last week leaves it intact.
Although it remains much lower than that of members of the House of Commons, the remuneration of Quebec parliamentarians already compares very well with that of their counterparts in other provinces. The new proposal would make it significantly more advantageous.
Former Liberal MP for Anjou Lise Thériault, who was on the committee, pointed out that they have a higher workload because of the additional responsibilities assumed by Quebec, but it must be said that they are also more numerous. Ontario has almost double the number of voters, and there’s one less MP in Queen’s Park.
It is true that parliamentarians are not paid enough, given the amount of work required of them and the pressure to which they are subjected, but that is what is paid for a provincial deputy everywhere in Canada. We can always form another committee if Quebec ever becomes an independent state.
There is never a good time to give yourself a raise at taxpayer expense, but there are times that are less appropriate than others. For example, when this increase is 21% and only 9% is offered over five years to state employees.
The average salary of a teacher is lower in Quebec than in the rest of the country, while there is a serious shortage of teachers. On the other hand, there is no shortage of politicians. The seeds of these fine talents of which Papineau spoke do not seem to be stifled by the modest remuneration. Most even seem very keen on being re-elected.