Pay Increases That Make Fools of Us AllMembers of Parliament and Senators are enjoying pay increases -- 2.1 per cent and 2.4 per cent, respectively. The pay raise took effect on April 1, April Fool's Day. The base salaries for MPs went up to $182,600 from $178,900. News agencies report that the law requires Senators be paid $25,000 less than members of the House of Commons, so members of the Senate will now be paid $157,600, up from $153,900. According to Parl.ca increases in pay for MPs and Senators are based "on the average percentage increase in base-rate wages for each calendar year, resulting from major settlements negotiated with major bargaining units of 500 or more employees in the private sector in Canada." The law requires that the base salaries for all parliamentarians "be rounded down to the nearest hundred dollars." Who are in these "major bargaining units" in the private sector is a mystery to most Canadians who think the pay of a Member of Parliament should be equivalent to the pay of an average working Canadian. That might level the playing field between those who govern and those who are governed a tad.
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