New Brunswick MP Mike Dawson says he was met with heckling and pushback from his own Conservative colleagues inside a caucus meeting earlier this week after publicly stating he would refuse a pending parliamentary pay raise.
That’s as the Conservative party’s whip says MPs can’t actually forgo the wage hike, and that it wasn’t “honest” to suggest politicians could.
It’s something the office of the clerk of the House of Commons has confirmed.
Dawson’s public pledge to do so ruffled feathers inside a closed door caucus meeting.
“When I started giving my philosophy on what I did, it wasn’t met with the warmest reception,” Dawson said in an interview with Brunswick News, adding he was surprised by the reaction when his intention was to show that he cared about taxpayers’ dollars.
The Miramichi-Grand Lake MP said he was standing behind a microphone used by Conservatives to speak to party leader Pierre Poilievre, when Conservative party whip MP Chris Warkentin called him out in front of the caucus.
Others jumped in, Dawson said, who then left the meeting, stating he had a flight home to Miramichi anyway.
“Most people, that stuff would bother them. That stuff don’t bother me,” Dawson said. “I don’t really care if I make friends in Ottawa, I’m not there to make friends. They all say they’re a family, they all say they’re friends.
“They’re colleagues. When I’m done in Ottawa, 95 per cent of them aren’t going to call or text me.”
He later added: “The problem here is that I never asked any of my colleagues to give the money up. That’s not what my letter said. All my letter said was that I was giving the money up.
“I don’t know what the finances of all the other members are. I don’t know what they have for bills. It’s none of my business. The only business I can control is my own.”
Dawson asked the clerk of the House of Commons earlier in the week to freeze his salary before parliamentarians are set to get an annual pay raise in April.
He did so, stating that “at a time when everyday Canadians are struggling to keep up with rising cost of living” he would not in good conscience accept a wage increase.
“It is frankly distasteful that Parliamentarians are set to receive a raise while the working man and woman in this country hasn’t seen a decent raise in decades,” reads Dawson’s letter to the clerk of the House of Commons.
Members of Parliament are set to receive a 4.2 per cent raise on April 1.
They currently make a base salary of $209,800.
That equates to a $8,811 jump.
It’s a legislated increase that’s indexed to wage settlements in the private sector, according to the House of Commons.
In an interview with Brunswick News on Thursday, Warkentin wouldn’t confirm or deny that Dawson was heckled by his own MPs behind closed doors in caucus.
“I will not tell you what I said in caucus because that would be a violation of my caucus confidentiality,” Warkentin said. “But I can tell you what I told him before and I’ll tell you what I told everybody after and that is when we make announcements to our constituents we must be honest with them.
“There is not a provision within the law that allows individual members of Parliament to individually turn down a pay increase. They’re well within their rights to donate pay increases, Conservatives in the past have done that to charitable organizations.”
Warkentin added that some are open about doing so, while other Conservatives “have been very private in their charitable giving because it’s against their values to be out there cheerleading their own generosity.”
Asked if Dawson’s move puts his caucus colleagues in a tough position to follow the New Brunswick MP’s lead, Warkentin said, “You can’t have members of Parliament say they’re going to do something they can’t because other members then can’t follow suit.
“So that does put everyone in an awkward position,” Warkentin said. “Nobody wants to say their colleague misled anybody, but on the flip side it’s important that we’re honest.”
He later continued: “If you’re saying you’re not taking a pay increase and then the public accounts are released in the months to come, you will be found to have been paid the exact same as every other MP.
“You might be cheered on one day, but there’s a reckoning to come.”
Spokesperson for the clerk of the House of Commons Olivier Duhaime confirmed in an email that MPs can’t decline the money.
“The annual adjustment to the sessional allowance and additional salaries of Members of Parliament is mandated by the provisions of the Parliament of Canada Act,” Duhaime said. “As the increase is mandated by law, it is not within the authority of the House Administration to enforce or withhold it.”
Warkentin said he called Dawson immediately after seeing the Miramichi MP post to social media that he would forgo his wage.
“I said ‘you can’t turn it down, but you can donate it,’” he said. “I was hopeful that he would clarify that so there wouldn’t be a misunderstanding, but Mike made his choice.”
Dawson said that Warkentin told him he couldn’t do it, but he replied that he would let the House of Commons decide.
The Miramichi MP said the governing Liberals should come forward to cancel the pay raise and save millions by doing so.
That’s while Dawson said he’s still unclear if he can simply take a pay cut or not, adding he’s yet to hear back from the clerk’s office.
That said, he added that a response may be buried in the “thousands” of emails he’s received from constituents and Canadians across the country in the aftermath of his announcement supporting his move.
“To be honest, I didn’t do it for a news story. I assumed I would send a letter, the clerk would send back an email with an attachment saying ‘here’s the form you’ve got to sign.’ And then it would be done.”
If he can’t forgo the wage increase, Dawson suggested he’ll donate the money.
“I won’t see any of that money,” he said. “It will be going somewhere.”
Dawson said that he has no interest in joining the governing Liberals or even sitting as an independent inside the House of Commons, despite the caucus disagreement.
“I’ll still be in caucus as long as they’ll have me,” he said. “I’m not planning on going anywhere.”
He added that he has since talked on the phone with Poilievre.
“Pierre and I had a good conversation after caucus, he’s supportive, but he’s got another 143 MPs that he’s got to try and manage, and I get it,” he said.
“It’s a difficult job for him.”