Quebec MNAs could become highest paid in Canada if new bill passes with $30K raise

The Quebec government has tabled a bill that would see members of the National Assembly receive a $30,000 salary hike.

If Bill 24 is passed, MNAs would see their base salary jump from $101,561 to $131,766.

"It's a catch-up that was due," Premier François Legault said before question period Thursday.

The base salary of MNAs has not been revised since 2000, although it has been indexed for inflation.

If approved, Bill 24 would make Quebec elected officials the best-paid provincial politicians in Canada. Alberta legislature members currently have the highest base salary among their provincial peers — $120,936 a year.

Bill 24 draws from recommendations from an independent committee, which found that the salaries of MNAs should be reclassified to match those of directors and vice-presidents of public services.

In February, the Office of the National Assembly voted to create the committee — composed of human resources specialist Jérôme Côté, former Liberal minister Lise Thériault and former Parti Québécois (PQ) MNA Martin Ouellet — to examine the remuneration of elected officials.

Concerns about the committee's impartiality were raised at the time, since the two former MNAs had left politics recently, with Thériault quitting in August 2021 and Ouellet last June.

Recognizing that the salary of politicians is "not a popular subject," Quebec Justice Minister Simon Jolin-Barrette said Thursday that the committee's report underlined the responsibilities of ministers — who are expected to be available to citizens seven days a week.

"It's never a good time to increase or review the salaries of elected officials," he said. "That is why we are following the recommendations of an independent committee."

Past administrations have grappled with the idea of raising salaries only to back down because of public perception.

Most MNAs earn more than the base salary due to extra compensation given for holding a parliamentary or ministerial office.

When elected officials take on multiple positions, they are granted only one additional payment — the highest one associated with their secondary roles.

With a strong majority in the legislature, the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) does not need the support of opposition parties to pass the bill, making its adoption likely.

Opposition parties question urgency

The second article of Bill 24 would require the law to come into effect as soon as it is enacted.

"I don't understand why the CAQ wants to go quickly because it affects people's confidence in elected officials," Québec Solidaire (QS) co-spokesperson Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois said Thursday.

Nadeau-Dubois also criticized the mechanism allowing MNAs to vote on their own salaries, saying "people we represent don't find this normal."

In a letter sent on April 25, Nadeau-Dubois and QS co-spokesperson Manon Massé called on party leaders to end the process of allowing MNAs to vote on their own salary raises. They also asked for the creation of an independent committee to review the overall work conditions of MNAs.

Pascal Bérubé, MNA for Matane-Matapédia, said earlier Thursday morning that approving the bill would create a bigger disparity among MNAs whose earnings already vary because of bonuses tied to the additional parliamentary responsibilities they undertake. He also questioned the urgency to table the bill.

"Why not have it apply to the next legislature?" he asked.

On Wednesday, Liberal Leader Marc Tanguay said in a news scrum his party supports the bill's principle, but he would wait until it would be tabled before commenting.