Canada’s election chief says his secretive meetings with Liberal and NDP staffers did not include conversations on expanding parliamentary pensions. 

Rewriting the Elections Act would secure parliamentary pensions for some 80 elected officials, including 28 Liberal and New Democrat MPs, reported Blacklock’s.

“I did not know what would be in Bill C-65,” Stéphane Perrault testified at the House affairs committee. “I did not participate in meetings regarding the entire bill,” he claimed. “I had discussions on the elements.”

A Trudeau cabinet minister says amending the Elections Act — to push back the next federal election — may not proceed as planned. Conservative MPs were livid by attempts to secure parliamentary pensions for some 80 elected officials.

MORE: https://t.co/VOpRaS50bx pic.twitter.com/u3ZFlygUZE

— Rebel News (@RebelNewsOnline) November 9, 2024

In March, Dominic LeBlanc, the public safety minister, proposed moving the general election from October 20 to October 27, 2025, by amending Bill C-65, An Act To Amend The Canada Elections Act.

The minister justified the proposed legislative change to accommodate Hindus, Sikhs, and Buddhists observing Diwali on Monday, October 20, 2025, effectively disregarding early voting options. 

He claimed the bill would strengthen Canada's democracy while making no mention of the positive effect it would have on taxpayer-funded pensions.

“We were lucky to benefit from the non-partisan advice of both senior public servants and Elections Canada,” LeBlanc told MPs on November 7. “There is no mystery.”

'I'm here to give a voice to hundreds of thousands of Canadians who don't want you to delay the next election and stick taxpayers with the bill for millions in pensions for members of Parliament.'

MORE by @SheilaGunnReid: https://t.co/oJxZO30sIk pic.twitter.com/8NZf0YMrXq

— Rebel News Canada (@RebelNews_CA) November 6, 2024

A spokesperson for Stéphane Perrault, the Chief Electoral Officer, told Blacklock’s that Elections Canada attended a private January meeting to discuss Bill C-65.

“Was the question of putting off the date of the election raised?” asked Conservative MP Luc Berthold during committee. “No, that never came up,” replied Perrault. “Not that I recall.”

Perrault, meanwhile, told MPs he opposes the pension clause in C-65. “I do not support the change of the election date,” he said.

WATCH: NDP leader runs away from @TheMenzoid's questions about an early election.

"For the good of the country, are you going to walk away from your multimillion-dollar pension?"

Full report to come. https://t.co/BbAaThOMRs. pic.twitter.com/au9dDLLQp3

— Rebel News (@RebelNewsOnline) October 17, 2024

In prior hearings for the same committee, the bureaucrat said Elections Canada must remain non-partisan to maintain “the credibility of the Canadian regime.”

However, cabinet aides, as first reported by Blacklock’s, did not invite Conservative and Bloc Québécois officials to partake in those deliberations. Guests “included representatives of the NDP” and the Prime Minister’s Office, said an agency spokesperson.

“NDP headquarters staff were invited and attended those meetings,” Conservative MP Eric Duncan told the House affairs committee, excluding both Conservative and Bloc Québécois members.

Allen Sutherland, the assistant cabinet secretary, did not directly answer why other political parties were excluded from talks.

“That is completely inappropriate,” Duncan said. “One political party was given access to information and documents and crafted a bill.”

Conservative MP Eric Duncan presses Canada's chief electoral officer about secret meetings he had with the Liberals and NDP about moving the fixed election date to accommodate the pension qualifications of outgoing MPs.

Guest-starring idiot interruptions from Lib defamer Mark… pic.twitter.com/sdjFPvsHfk

— Sheila Gunn Reid (@SheilaGunnReid) November 22, 2024

Pension benefits currently average $77,900 a year under the Members Of Parliament Retiring Allowances Act. Two-term MPs first elected in 2019 do not qualify until Tuesday, October 21, 2025, a day after the fixed election date.

MPs who meet the legislative requirements can receive reduced pensions at the age of 55 with full pensions paid out at 65. Those who do not qualify are refunded their pension contributions.

“Was it a Liberal idea or an NDP idea to move back the election by a week so it guarantees defeated Liberal and NDP MPs their pension?” asked MP Duncan. “Pension entitlement had nothing to do with that decision to move the date,” Minister LeBlanc responded.

“You find it shocking that parliamentarians work together in a collaborative way,” he said. “We think it’s something Canadians would find very positive.”

“It was moved for purely political purposes in terms of pension protection of Liberals and New Democrats. Conservatives want an election now,” Duncan argued.

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