In protest to the 2020 salary increase granted to Members of Parliament, cabinet minister, Prime Minister Trudeau and senators, several MPs are signing their pay raises over to charity.

So far, MPs John Brassard, Doug Shipley and Scott Reid — all of the Conservative Party of Canada — have pledged to donate their salary increases of $2,800 to various charities.

“People are losing their jobs,” said MP Shipley. “Stress levels are increasing in our communities. It’s an extremely challenging time for our local charities.”

MP Scott Reid notes that this is an automatic increase held over from the Chretien-era, and that he will be “following the example” of Andrew Scheer and will donate his to a #coronavirus-related charity. Without a press release available, it's unclear if Scheer is specifically donating his $2,800 increase to charities, or if he is promoting coronavirus-related charities as a whole.

Blacklock's Reporter spoke with the Canadian Taxpayers Federation about the raises:

“The 2005 legislation should be revoked,” said Aaron Wudrick, federal director of the Taxpayers Federation. “Politicians’ pay raises should never be automatic, for reasons the current situation show rather dramatically.”

After the pay raises take effect, here's what our lawmakers will earn this year:

• $156,000 for senators
• $181,000 for MPs
• $269,000 for cabinet members
• $364,000 for the Prime Minister

On top of this, Canadians will also be challenged with the 50% increase on the carbon tax, which will raise the price of everything we buy.

To help put public pressure on the government to reject the carbon tax and to help ease the burden on Canadians facing the worst economy in decades, please sign the petition at StopTheCarbonTax.com.