A fistful of dollars

Earlier today we witnessed the pomp and pageantry of King Charles III delivering the Speech from the Throne. The Senate was packed with dignitaries while Members of the House of Commons thronged the doors for a peek.
The MPs looked ever so cheerful in their roles. Little wonder. Have you ever asked yourself just how much each MP makes for what they do? They do very well indeed.
Members of the House of Commons are paid at an annual rate of $209,800, plus they’re each given an office, a couple of staffers, relocation expenses and money for their Ottawa digs, not to mention a pension, comprehensive insurance, and multiple return trips to the riding. Senators, all of whom are appointed, earn slightly less: $185,000 plus $10,880 tax-free for expenses.
And if an MP manages to become prime minister, the base amount is doubled. Or if an MP is appointed to be a minister or a minister of state, add $100,000, $75,000 for a secretary of state, or add $14,200 for being chair of a standing committee. On top of all that comes paid-for constituency office costs.
In return for all that money sloshing around, how many actual sitting days will there be in 2025? With Parliament prorogued earlier this year, followed by the election, actual sitting days in 2025 will number only 73. Even a regular year of sitting days in the Senate is about the same, 79.
Sitting days for the House of Commons in the three previous years, 2022, 2023 and 2024 were greater in number than this year’s will be, but not penurious: 129, 121 and 122 respectively.
Bear in mind that the average working stiff labours five days a week for fifty weeks a year or 250 days in total – about twice as many days as MPs. And remember also that the average annual salary of those working stiffs is $68,000, about one-third of an MP’s pay.
Even in defeat, MPs do not suffer monetarily. For those MPs who lost their seats in the recent election, severance pay is a generous $150,000.
As for the speech itself, the text should have concluded with the lines, “As the anthem reminds us: The True North is indeed strong and free!” The outburst of applause for a speech that never mentioned Donald Trump was perfect. Instead, the King went on to add two desultory sentences, saying something about Parliamentarians being blessed in all their duties.
At those rates of pay, they certainly are.