By Staff
October 24, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON
The first thing you have to do is gulp.
Then sit down and let the facts sink in and then shout Holly Hannah.
The fine folks of Burlington decided Mike Wallace had served them long enough and elected Karina Gould to the House of Commons.
This how you laugh all the way to the bank.
Mike now has to travel to Ottawa, clean out his office and settle up with the paymaster – he should take a big briefcase with him or perhaps a Brinks truck.
Wallace served as a Member of Parliament for 9.3 years.
He will receive a severance package of $89,500
He will receive an annual pension of $46,036
The Canadian Taxpayers Federation estimates that the lifetime pension for Wallace, who is 52, will amount to $2,318,780
During his time as a Member of Parliament, Wallace contributed $115,932. to his pension.
Holly Hannah is putting it mildly.
For those of you who think Mike Wallace was ill-deserving of his severance and pension, I would encourage you to read The Dark Side by, Steve Paikin, in The Dark Side, Paikin shines a light on the politicians who experienced life’s exhilarating highs, and its crushing lows. The post-election era for many who have chosen to serve, is not necessarily paved with gold.
During his time in office I often wrote to Wallace on issues that were important to me, but not in concert with the views and actions of the government. Wallace responded 100% of the time. Over the years I have written to Prime Ministers, Premiers, Ministers, and aldermen and in my mind Mike was the gold standard in terms of the speed and thoughtfulness of his responses. I would like to thank Mike Wallace for his service and congratulate Karina Gould as our newly elected representative in Ottawa.
All the critics of politicians have the same opportunity to become a politician if they so desire.
The amount of compensation Wallace gets for what he does is arguably on the low side, especially when you consider how much public money is under the management of his contributory influence.
It is not so much an issue as to how much a politician makes, it is more about how that politician participates in a governing environment that is responsible and accountable with the duties of fiscal policy and administration.
How is this all of a sudden “News”? This has been going on for decades every time there is an election there is criticism of politicians and their pensions and severances.It’s at all levels, including Municipal.
The public knows going in this the entitlement, no nothing to complain about here.
Ay carumba!
That is a twenty times return on his money!
The Canadian taxpayers sure are a generous lot!
And Ms. Gould will also receive a pension if she last two elections. The difference is, that it was the outgoing conservatives that have raised the pension age from 55yo to 65yo. Now all elected MPs, as of this election, will have to wait till age 65yo to collect their pension.
An extra good reason many long-time Conservative MP’s decided not to run this time and go down with a sinking ship. They’ll get their MP Pension at 55. And live to maybe fight another day as politicians, already on pension.
Pity the senior citizens of Burlington can’t expect to get a decent size pension, most of whom have worked and paid in for 40 to 50 years.
It seems excessive for a job (please don’t call it “public service”) where the only required qualification is winning a popularity contest.
Politician’s are always smiling … who can blame them.