Forty-two per cent raise proposed for Chretien

MPs would get a 20-per-cent increase if vote is approved

Jean Cretien’s salary will jump to $262,988 from $184,600 if he gets the 42 per cent raise he’s said to be voting himself in near future. MPs would get 20 per cent raises if the vote goes through.

The increases would put MPs’ salaries, at $131,000, in line with a fifth-year lawyer at a Toronto firm, a senior manager at a chartered bank, or a senior VP at a public-sector union, according to the Globe and Mail.

Critics say that the raises are objectionable since they are being voted in by MPs themselves, the government has only been in office seven months, and just 1.4 per cent of Canadian taxpayers earned that much in 1998. However, private-sector compensation experts say the salary is justified considering the position, the responsibilities associated with the job and the long hours MPs put in.

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