#1Sep 20th, 2012
f you weren’t already upset at the lavishness of the pension plan for Members of Parliament, read this analysis of the details by the CBC’s James Fitz-Morris. (See also this report by the Canadian taxpayers Federation.) You don’t have to be an accountant to appreciate the full extent of the avarice it represents.
Here’s the executive summary: The plan is so rich that it requires two accounts to hold all the money. The tax code only allows registered pension plans to set aside 2% of salary, but MPs get 3%, so a second account is needed for the overflow (and for the extra money they get above the $148,000 cutoff). Not that the extra money is coming from the MPs themselves; in fact, almost none of it is. In 2010-11, MPs and senators contributed just $4.5 million, against $26.7 million kicked in by taxpayers.
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The MP pension bonanza is even richer than you thought | Full Comment | National Post
Here’s the executive summary: The plan is so rich that it requires two accounts to hold all the money. The tax code only allows registered pension plans to set aside 2% of salary, but MPs get 3%, so a second account is needed for the overflow (and for the extra money they get above the $148,000 cutoff). Not that the extra money is coming from the MPs themselves; in fact, almost none of it is. In 2010-11, MPs and senators contributed just $4.5 million, against $26.7 million kicked in by taxpayers.
more
The MP pension bonanza is even richer than you thought | Full Comment | National Post