MLA severance too generous, says Canadian Taxpayers Federation

It is reasonable that MLAs should receive some severance pay, says the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, but the pay offered in P.E.I.'s current legislation is far too generous.

The severance package is equal to one month’s salary for every year of service, maxing out at the one-year salary for an MLA, currently $68,721. The severance is payable whether an MLA resigns, loses an election, or decides not to run again.

“The issue here though is two-fold,” said Kevin Lacey, Atlantic Canada director for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.

“The first is that these politicians are receiving this pension when they leave voluntarily. The second is the sheer richness of the plan. This is far above and beyond what anyone of taxpayers in the private sector would get for their severance.”

Lacey supports severance pay, but only for MLAs defeated in an election.

In the coming election MLA severance is already set to cost about $372,000, because six MLAs, four of whom are entitled to the maximum payout, have already announced they won’t be running again. That number will rise if more MLAs decide not to run or are defeated in the election.

A spokesperson for the Legislative Assembly said figures from past elections could not be provided.

According to calculations by CBC News, taxpayers would have been responsible for a little more than $1 million in 2007, the year the Robert Ghiz Liberals came to power.

"These are big, big bills, and I think Islanders could find a lot better places to put a million dollars rather than giving it to these politicians," said Lacey.

"Many of them are already taken care of very well by the pension plan."

In 2007 21 Progressive Conservative MLAs left the legislative assembly, most of them defeated on election night, and some deciding not to run again.

For mobile device users: Should the severance pay plan for P.E.I. MLAs be changed?