Federal members of Parliament who lose an election or decide to leave office can receive up to $15,000 in “transition support funding” for such things as education, long-distance phone calls, office supplies, or up to four round trips within the country.
Taxpayers have been billed for ex-politicians to go to Harvard University, Cornell University, the Rotman School of Management, the McGill Executive Institute, the Chopra Centre, and other schools, according to the CTF.
“Why are taxpayers on the hook for a $15,000-slush fund when we are already handing ex-MPs a $90,000-severance cheque?” asks Franco Terrazzano, federal director of the CTF. He said, “Most Canadians can’t get fired and still bill their former boss for an ivy league education and neither should MPs.”
The CTF said the transition fund appears to be unique in Canada among Commonwealth countries, with no similar benefit payment in Britain, Australia, Scotland, or Wales.
MPs who receive the transition support have 12 months to use their funding, although the CTF indicated that the time frame was extended during COVID-19.
Education Funding
Since 2019, at least 12 former MPs have used the fund specifically for education and professional development, for a total cost to taxpayers of $90,303.
For example, former Liberal MP Dan Ruimy received $10,488 to attend CDI College. He now serves as the mayor of Maple Ridge, B.C.
Former Liberal MP Celina Caesar-Chavannes received $6,077.43 to attend Northcentral University and the Chopra Centre.
Caesar-Chavannes was elected as MP in Whitby, Ontario, in 2015. She resigned from the Liberal caucus in March 2019 and did not run for reelection. According to the CTF, she received $89,000 in severance. In May 2022, she sent taxpayers a bill for $3,989 from the Chopra Centre, a wellness retreat and training centre founded by author Deepak Chopra.
Amarjeet Sohi, a former Liberal MP, spent $4,995 for SCIC e-Acamdeic and is now the mayor of Edmonton.
Fellow Liberal MP Matt DeCourcey used $8,690 to attend McGill Executive Institute for what his Linkedin page indicates was a mini MBA. DeCourcey served as Fredericton MP from 2015 to 2019 and was defeated in the last federal election. He received $89,450 severance and went on to become a senior adviser to the federal minister of finance in January 2020, in addition to five other jobs since.
Denis Paradis, a Liberal, received $2,750 for the University of Ottawa, and Will Amos, also a Liberal, received $11,500 to attend the Institute of Corporate Directors.
NDP alumnus Murray Rankin, a lawyer and law professor who served as MP for Victoria from 2012 to 2019, obtained $15,000 for the Rotman School of Management in July 2019, in addition to his $34,000 annual pension.
In October 2020, Rankin ran for provincial office in B.C. and currently serves as the minister of Indigenous relations and reconciliation.
NDP MP Christine Moore received $2,959.31 for Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue.
Conservative MPs joined in on the transition fund. Bruce Stanton received $3,210.15 for eCornell, while Nelly Shin attended École Québec Monde and the University of Ottawa for a total of $3,935.
Trost, MP for Saskatoon–Humboldt from 2004 to 2015 and subsequently MP for Saskatoon–University from 2015 to 2019, received a severance package and a pension, according to CTF. He used his full transition support of $15,000 for Harvard.
Conservative Steven Blaney used $5,699 to attend George Brown College, Événements Les Affaires, Canadian Nuclear Association, and the Collège des Administrateurs de Sociétés.
Perks
“Why are taxpayers paying for the education and training costs of highly compensated federal politicians who already receive a slew of platinum perks?” Terrazzano said. “MPs already receive large six-figure salaries and don’t need to take more money from taxpayers to try to land another job.”
“Just because other departing MPs didn’t use it for education or training, doesn’t mean they didn’t tap into $15,000 available to them for the other purposes,” said CTF.
According to the CTF, MPs who leave public service receive a number of additional perks. With the annual salary for a backbench Canadian MP set at $194,600, an MP who serves less than six years in office receives half their salary as severance—$97,300. If the MP serves more than six years, they are also eligible to receive a pension.
The CTF said it calculated the cost of severance and pension payments for departing MPs after the 2019 federal election. The total came to $5.8 million in severance costs and $104 million in pension payments.
In 2021, severance was paid out at $3.3 million, and pension payments at $42 million. Other perks for departing Canadian MPs include free counselling services for up to one year, which can be for “financial, legal, professional, addiction, lifestyle, nutrition, (and) health and wellness matters.”
If the MP moved to Ottawa during their time in public service, they receive a “relocation benefit” as well.
On April 1, federal MPs received their fourth pay raise since the onset of the COVID-19 epidemic, said CTF.
“Politicians’ perks need to be reined in and that includes eliminating the transition support slush fund,” Terrazzano said.
