MPs abolish their $125 per day attendance bonus

Jacques Boissinot The Canadian Press The Prime Minister of Quebec, François Legault, responds to the opposition during the question period at the National Assembly on May 11.

Members of the National Assembly last week abolished a $125 per day attendance bonus following a pushback from Prime Minister François Legault, who had initially defended it.

The members of the Bureau of the National Assembly, where all parties are represented, adopted a proposal on this subject on Thursday, the institution indicated.

Spokeswoman Béatrice Zacharie affirmed that this decision would be made public on Tuesday when it is tabled in the House.

 

“The decision to abolish the attendance allowance was adopted by the Office of the National Assembly,” she indicated.

Dutyrevealed last September that MPs would obtain a bonus of $125 per day for their participation at the end of August in the study of a bill in parliamentary committee before the official return of Parliament, scheduled for mid-September.

This bonus, in force for decades, was in addition to the 30% increase in MPs' pay, which sparked controversy when it was adopted in June. Voted by deputies, the increase increased the basic allowance for elected officials from $101,561 to $131,766.

Mr. Legault had initially defended maintaining the $125 bonus, but the opposition parties had expressed a contrary opinion, which forced the Prime Minister to review his position.

The wing CAQ parliamentarian confirmed to Devoir that his representatives had submitted a proposal to abolish this bonus on Thursday, during a meeting of the Bureau, the equivalent of the board of directors of the National Assembly.

Last year, an overall budget of $75,000 was dedicated to paying 600 attendance bonuses to eligible MPs, compared to $67,250 in 2020-2021 and $74,000 in 2019- 2020.