The House of Commons has stated that it was obligated to raise the salary of a Member of Parliament from New Brunswick, regardless of the MP’s preference. According to House clerk Eric Janse’s affidavit filed in Federal Court, all MPs must receive the specified amounts as outlined in legislation, and any deviation from this would be unlawful and impractical.

Miramichi-Grand Lake Conservative MP Mike Dawson had sought a judicial review in June to prevent Parliament from giving him an $8,800 salary increase. In response, Janse filed an affidavit last month affirming that the sessional allowance for the applicant must adhere to the amounts mandated by the Parliament of Canada Act, including annual adjustments.

Granting Dawson the option to decline the raise would necessitate House staff to carry out special administrative tasks solely for Dawson to manage a separate calculation of his sessional allowance each year during his tenure as an MP. The base salary for MPs was $208,900 last year and rose to $217,700 on April 1 this year, in line with federal legislation that ties MP pay adjustments to a formula based on private-sector salary increments.

Dawson has expressed his refusal to accept the $8,800 raise, citing the financial difficulties faced by many Canadians. He compared the simplicity of deducting federal taxes from his employees’ pay as a business owner to the ease of halting the pay raise process electronically. Despite donating his raise to charity, Dawson believes he should have the right to object to the raise entirely.

Spokesperson Olivier Duhaime, representing House of Commons Speaker Francis Scarpaleggia, mentioned that neither Scarpaleggia nor Janse was available for an interview regarding the matter. Full legal arguments in the case are anticipated to be submitted within the next two months.