Prime Minister Mark Carney appointed a third of Liberal backbenchers as parliamentary secretaries yesterday, each receiving a $20,200 annual bonus, according to Blacklock’s.

Carney stated Canada's new parliamentary secretaries will fulfill the government's mandate for change and to "help Canadians get ahead."

Backbencher salaries rose on April 1 by $6,700, and have gone up in successive years for nearly a decade. The Liberals have not frozen pay once since 2015.

On Friday, Prime Minister Carney appointed 39 parliamentary secretaries, fewer than Trudeau's 41 (2021) but more than Harper's 26 (2006), and historical averages. 

He told Liberal MPs that 39 appointments, 30% of their caucus excluding ministers and secretaries, made history at a May 25 meeting. "It's the largest women's caucus in the Liberal Party's history."

Parliamentary secretaries manage routine House matters, participate in committees without voting, and undertake extra duties, acting as a liaison between ministers and other parliamentarians, as outlined by a 2018 Library of Parliament guide.

Under House of Commons Standing Orders, duties include making statements, tabling documents, and "speaking on behalf of a minister." Carney appointed Rachel Bendayan and Kody Blois as Parliamentary Secretaries to the Prime Minister.

Two MPs each were named secretaries for culture, industry, and Canada-U.S. trade. The Prime Minister also named two parliamentary secretaries for housing, foreign affairs, and natural resources, among other portfolios.

On April 1, backbencher salaries increased by $6,700, ministers by $9,800, and Prime Minister Carney by $13,400. This results in estimated salaries of $209,800 for backbench MPs, $309,700 for ministers, and $419,600 for the Prime Minister.

Leger polling revealed that 79% of Canadians opposed the pay raise in 2022, with another four-in-five opposed to further hikes this year.

"The poll results are crystal clear: Canadians don't think MPs deserve another pay raise," said Franco Terrazzano, Federal Director for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, who condemned the recent rise. He notes the average annual salary among all full-time workers is $67,000, according to Statistics Canada.

While MPs give themselves pay raises each year on April 1, based on the average annual increase in union contracts with corporations that have 500 or more employees, the previous Conservative government froze MP salaries following the 2008/09 global recession—a measure of goodwill lasting until 2013, but not reciprocated by the Liberals.

"Canadians need MPs who will be champions for taxpayers and demand an end to these pay raises," Terrazzano said. "We haven't heard a single MP from any party forcefully try to stop the pay raise," he clarified. 

Pre-pandemic salaries were $178,900, $264,400, and $357,800, respectively, for backbenchers, ministers, and the prime minister.

PETITION: Stop The Pay Hike

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