Here I am as of today, delighted to have come across not one, but two – TWO! – versions of A Question of Scruples. The second edition is one I’ve had before, but the ’90s is one I didn’t know existed! So exciting!
Here’s a sample card from the ’90s version. As a Member of Parliament voting against a 30% pay increase, what do I do with it when I wind up with it anyway? Charity? Hmm…
This is a bad card for me to start with, as I’m not politically minded.
A news report from from April 2017 – “MPs’ self-approved $2,300 salary increase is ‘self-serving’ says taxpayers’ group”
“The context matters,” said Aaron Wudrick, national director for the right-leaning Canadian Taxpayers Federation. Part of that context is the deficits the Liberals are projecting, he said.
Whereas Trudeau campaigned in 2015 on running “modest” deficits of $10 billion, that figure has consistently ballooned since his election and is now expected to reach $25.5 billion by March 31, 2018.
A year earlier, a “cruel joke” of an increase as well:
“Implementing a pay freeze when deficits are being run seems like commons sense, and would show some basic leadership,” Wudrick said in an email.
Every MP and senator received a pay hike of $3,000 to their base salary, but those in the upper echelons of power and influence saw a bigger increase.
The base salary for all 338 MPs has now jumped to $170,400 from $167,400 a year ago. That 1.8 per cent bump will cost taxpayers more than $1 million this year.
In light of both these stories, perhaps I’d be smart to advertise my “raise” as up for grabs to charitable organizations. Perhaps a different one each month? Two per month? It certainly would pay for a lot of orange juice — assuming each serving isn’t $16…
One Minion's Opinion 