Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty waits while being introduced at the Calgary Chamber of Commerce in Calgary, Alberta November 8, 2011.
Credits: REUTERS/Todd Korol
OTTAWA -- If the federal government moves to cut pensions for public sector employees, the politicians may trim their own entitlements first.
Conservative sources told the National Post this week MPs could reduce their own lucrative retirement pay-outs prior to dropping pensions for newly hired bureaucrats.
Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, however, said MP pension rates are not up to him.
"MPs' pensions are actually the responsibility of the House of the Commons, of the Board of Internal Economy, they're not directly the responsibility of the government," Flaherty told reporters in Vancouver.
"It would be nice if they would talk about their plans with us in the House of Commons instead of talking to newspapers," said interim Liberal leader Bob Rae. "We will look at whatever they propose, I am not opposed to considering anything."
MP pensions are very generous. The latest numbers show that for every $1 the politician contributes, Canadian taxpayers hand over $5.50. The average retired MP gets more than $53 thousand per year and can start collecting at age 55, after serving for six years in the House of Commons.
