April Fool’s Day has long been associated with pranks and jokes, but this year Justin Trudeau and his privileged Parliamentary posse are set to deliver the ultimate insult to struggling Canadians.
As families across the nation triage their expenses just to keep food on the table, Trudeau’s cadre of elite insiders plan to reward themselves with a lavish pay hike.
On April 1st, while ordinary citizens pinch their pennies amidst crushing inflation, MPs will pad their already gold-plated salaries with raises. But for many, the idea that politicians deserve even more for neglecting the crumbling citizens is no laughing matter.
The PM seems utterly clueless to the anxiety gripping indebted, overstretched Canadian households.
As Canadians learn what it means to sacrifice, Trudeau’s tone-deaf troupe can’t sacrifice their own vanity for even a moment.
So this April 1st, while you pinch your pennies, don’t forget to pinch your nose at the stench of entitlement wafting from Parliament Hill. Trudeau’s latest pay hike prank will only further corrode confidence in leaders living large while citizens live anxious.
As winter sets in across Canada, Members of Parliament are once again preparing to pad their own pockets at taxpayers’ expense.
The news that Members of Parliament are in line for yet another pay raise this April 1st has sparked outrage across Canada.
While politicians give themselves raises every year based on private sector wage increases, this year’s estimated 4.2% raise seems especially egregious given the widespread financial difficulties currently facing Canadian families.
With Canada’s federal debt now exceeding $1 trillion and many Canadians struggling with skyrocketing living costs, mortgage payments and basic necessities, a hefty raise for MPs and ministers appears tone deaf and undeserved.
Backbench MPs already earn nearly $200,000 per year, while Prime Minister Justin Trudeau brings home almost $400,000 annually. This stands in stark contrast to the average Canadian salary of just $67,000.
Trudeau and the Liberal government should halt the automatic pay hikes this year, just as previous governments have done during times of recession or hardship.
The Conservative government under Stephen Harper froze MP pay increases for four straight years after the 2008 financial crisis. And in 2020, opposition parties proposed canceling a 2.1% raise after the COVID-19 pandemic hit, but Trudeau’s Liberals refused.
Franco Terrazzano, Federal Director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, slammed this year’s expected increase as unacceptable. “The federal government is more than $1 trillion in debt, taxpayers are struggling to afford basic necessities and MPs don’t deserve raises,” he argued. Terrazzano suggested MPs should “do the right thing and stop their upcoming pay raise” this April.
For many Canadians, the idea of a 4.2% raise for MPs while their own costs of living skyrocket is nothing short of insulting. Housing affordability in many cities has reached crisis levels, with average home prices now exceeding $700,000 nationally. Rental rates have also soared across Canada, putting tenants under severe financial strain.
At the same time, inflation has driven up the cost of gas, groceries and other essentials. Food banks are reporting dramatic increases in visits, as many low and middle income Canadians find themselves unable to keep up with expenses. Travel and leisure activities once taken for granted have become unaffordable luxuries for many.
The Trudeau government has also imposed a steadily rising carbon tax that makes heating, cooling and transportation more expensive each year. To add insult to injury, another carbon tax hike will take effect on April 1st this year, simultaneous to the MP pay raises. This ‘double whammy’ on April Fool’s Day sparked particular outrage.
Canadians struggling with stagnant wages simply cannot fathom why MPs deserve even higher salaries at their expense. The Canadian health care system is crumbling after two years of pandemic strain, with long wait times now normal for surgeries, ER visits and even family doctors. Yet MPs reward themselves with raises while failing to remedy the crisis.
The timing of Trudeau’s self-awarded pay hike epitomizes his detachment from the true state of the nation. As the prime minister lines his pockets, Canada’s healthcare system is crumbling after years of neglect and underfunding.
Emergency room wait times have reached dire levels, with “horrific” overcrowding now common. Surgeries are delayed for months or even years. Finding a family doctor has become nearly impossible for millions of Canadians. The system just does not have the capacity or staffing to serve current population needs.
Yet Trudeau continues diverting precious funding towards his own lavish compensation and perks. His government has failed to graduate even close to enough new Canadian doctors to keep pace with population growth and aging. Training spots at medical schools remain largely stagnant.
Provincial healthcare dollars are stretched thinner each year across ever more patients. But Trudeau shrugs and hands himself yet another raise. His warped priorities are hastening the decline of Canada’s once proud public health system.
No fiscal restraint or shared sacrifice from the PM – only continued self-enrichment. Canadians desperate for medical care and answers watch in outrage as tone-deaf elites in Ottawa reward themselves for this avoidable crisis. Trudeau’s healthcare negligence may permanently damage the Canadian social fabric.
While lavishing himself with yet another pay hike, Trudeau seems increasingly anxious about Donald Trump’s potential return to power in 2024. The prospect of a second Trump term in the White House has the Canadian prime minister and his Liberal government looking for ways to strategically benefit.
According to government sources, Trudeau hopes that obsessive media coverage of Trump will distract the public from pressing domestic crises his government has failed to solve. These include runaway inflation, housing unaffordability, a decaying healthcare system, and more. Focusing on the polarizing Trump may also remind some voters of how Trudeau navigated the difficult NAFTA renegotiation under the ‘America First’ president.
Trudeau’s government has run up enormous debts since taking power in 2015, with federal spending increases outpacing revenues. Canada now spends more servicing interest on debt than it does on national defense. Yet Trudeau and his well-paid inner circle seem oblivious to this fiscal reality.
Since 2020, Trudeau’s own salary has climbed by $47,600 to nearly $400,000 annually. This is a staggering rise that few Canadians could ever imagine receiving. Many question what public service could possibly merit such exorbitant compensation.
As Terrazzano suggested, freezing MP pay would seem an obvious sacrifice during a time of fiscal uncertainty and household financial strain. It may only save approximately $17,000 for Trudeau himself. But for many Canadians, this sum represents several months rent or mortgage payments. To them, it epitomizes just how disconnected and entitled the political class in Ottawa has become.
Canadians expect shared sacrifice during times of crisis, yet their leaders continue helping themselves to Regular pay increases. Trudeau’s refusal to put the brakes on MP pay hikes, even temporarily, feeds a perception that he is elitist and aloof from the real struggles facing Canadian families. It reinforces a belief that his government is more concerned with its own interests than voters’.
With a possible recession looming in 2024, freeing mortgage rates rising, and household debt at all-time highs, Canada is entering a period of economic fragility. Ottawa should be looking at fiscal restraint and identifying meaningful ways to reduce costs for citizens. Hitting pause on MP pay hikes would signal a sensitivity to the plight of working Canadians.
Yet thus far, Trudeau and his well-compensated caucus seem content continuing the annual self-awarded raises while ordinary citizens face soaring costs. Unless public pressure manages to shame them into foregoing the April 1 increases, Canadians will watch their leaders get richer while families struggle to keep the lights on. It’s a disturbing disconnect that highlights just how distorted priorities have become inside Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government.
