After announcing retirement last year, MP Dick Harris is owed $83,700 in severance

With an election looming, dozens of MP’s will be out of work come October. That means pensions and severance… paid for by Canadian taxpayers.

Cariboo – Prince George MP Dick Harris is set to take home $83,700 in severance despite announcing his planned retirement in October 2014.

“When you’ve got MP’s who have been planning, in some cases for a year or more, to leave. It begs the question what on earth do you need severance for, they knew they were leaving and they should have planned accordingly. Why should taxpayers be on the tab for that?” Aaron Wudrick with the Canadian Taxpayers Federation said

Nine MP’s in BC will not be seeking re-election. They are set to take home over $800,000 in one time severance payments.

“And then the pensions are of course based on length of service.” Wudrick said “So if you have an individual like Dick Harris for example who served quite a long time (22 years); his pension if he lives to age 90, which is the average age MP’s live to, it will be almost $2.8 million dollars.”

Dick Harris will receive an annual pension of $120,700. The 9 retiring MP’s pensions will cost taxpayers just over $20 million. That is before anybody is defeated in October’s elections, who will get their own pensions and severance payments.

Wudrick applauded incoming changes to the way MP’s pensions are funded. Right now, for every dollar an MP contributes to their pension, taxpayers kick in $23. New rules starting Jan 1st 2016, taxpayers will only chip in $1.60 for every dollar contributed by the politician.