Unease over the salaries of elected officials in Quebec

The proposed $30,000 salary increase for MNAs causes unease in the National Assembly. Québec solidaire rejects the recommendation, while the other parties avoid commenting on the subject.

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“There is no one who got involved in politics to put money in their pockets, I am convinced of that,” said QS parliamentary leader Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois on Wednesday morning. But, unfortunately, voting for yourself your own salary, it can fuel the perception that this is what is happening, it can fuel the perception that there is a political class that is disconnected from the people it represents , it can fuel mistrust, it can fuel cynicism. »

The day before, Mr. Nadeau-Dubois and his colleague Manon Massé had sent a letter to the leaders of the other parties to invite them to reject the recommendations of a recent report which proposes a $30,000 increase in the base salary of elected officials. The National Assembly will now have to vote on a future bill to implement the increase.

QS instead proposes the establishment of an “independent and binding committee” which would decide for elected officials.

Faintness

The position of solidarity has put his opponents in trouble.

The interim leader of the Liberal Party of Quebec refuses to comment on the relevance of such an increase in income for the deputies. “No, no, I’m not going in there. There is a report that has been tabled on the salaries of deputies, we will see the response that will be given to this by the government, then, if necessary, we will debate, ”commented Marc Tanguay.

Same silence in the Parti Québécois. “Look, it’s the government’s thing. The government wants that, we don’t know why. I never asked for it. I never complained about my salary. It is up to the government to take its responsibilities and then its decisions,” says PQ leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon.

Upcoming bill

The chief government whip confirmed on Tuesday that a bill will be tabled “in due course”. “The opposition will watch it and we will discuss it together,” said Éric Lefebvre.

On Wednesday, Prime Minister François Legault did not want to confirm a timetable. “We are still reviewing the report,” he said.

When asked about his own income as prime minister, François Legault stressed that he was “privileged” financially because of his past career.


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