by Richard Rolke - Vernon Morning Star posted Oct 21, 2015 at 9:00 AM
North Okanagan-Shuswap’s retiring MP is putting his compensation package in perspective. The Canadian Taxpayers Federation says Colin Mayes, who was in office for almost 10 years, will receive an annual pension of $47,126 and a lifetime pension of $1,365,686. “I have to live a long time to collect that money,” said the 67-year-old. “I hope I do but Jim Flaherty (former finance minister) didn’t. They could do that with an RCMP officer or a teacher or anyone with a pension. It doesn’t make me special.” Mayes also points out that he paid into the parliamentary pension program for almost a decade at about $117,393 a year. “You go into a job and they say, ‘It’s your compensation package.’ It was the contract for employment.” The Canadian Taxpayers Federation also says Mayes will receive a severance of $36,574 but Mayes insists that’s inaccurate. “I don’t get a severance because I am over 65 and of retirement age.” For MPs who retired or were defeated on Monday, the CTF says taxpayers contributed $17 for every $1 put into the plan by an MP towards their pension. After January 1, 2016, the ratio will gradually shift to a ratio of $1.60 in taxpayer contributions for every $1 put in by an MP or senator. “These pension changes are a welcome step towards broader public sector pension reform,” said Aaron Wudrick, CTF federal director. “The good news is that thanks to the hard-fought. “We encourage the new government to take the necessary steps to ensure government employee pensions are more in line with what the vast majority of Canadians working in the private sector expect to receive.”
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