Conservative MP loses fight to refuse annual federal pay hike
House clerk Eric Janse argued that Dawson turning down the increase would require House staff “to undertake administrative measures.”
Conservative MP Mike Dawson, who gained notoriety earlier this year for refusing to accept his automatic salary increase, has lost his judicial review in a Federal Court, with the ruling saying it would be illegal and inconvenient for him not to take the pay hike.
Dawson, who represents the riding of Miramichi-Grand Lake, N.B., filed an application for judicial review in June, attempting to stop Parliament from awarding him the $8,800 raise.
However, according to an affidavit filed by House clerk Eric Janse, all members of Parliament must be paid the amounts set out in legislation, forcing Dawson to accept the raise, which he called “frankly distasteful” at a time when Canadians were suffering financially.
“The House Administration is of the view that the applicant’s sessional allowance must, as a matter of law, be paid in the amount prescribed by the Parliament of Canada Act, including all applicable annual adjustments,” reads Janse’s affidavit.
He further argued that allowing Dawson to turn down the increase would also require House staff “to undertake administrative measures” for the MP alone “to establish and maintain a separate calculation of the Applicant’s sessional allowance” every year for as long as he sat in the House of Commons.
Last year, the base salary for MPs was $208,900, which increased to $217,700 on April 1.
Meanwhile, a minister collects $321,300, and the prime minister takes home a $435,400 annual salary.
The pay hikes are tied to a formula based on private-sector salary hikes and enforced under federal legislation.
“We seem to be all right to put somebody on the moon, but we can’t stop a pay raise,” Dawson told CBC News on Tuesday. “Everything’s electronic for pay. It’s just a matter of clicking a button.”
He added that as a business owner, it should be no more complicated than deducting federal taxes from his employees’ pay, which he’s obliged to do annually.
While Dawson has been donating his raise to charity, he noted that he should be permitted to object to it altogether.