Wanderings – Are politician pay raises well earned?

Knowing your own worth, whether that is in the workplace or in the greater world, is often difficult to figure out – unless you’re an elected politician. In that case, it’s easy – you’re worth 25 to 40 per cent more than you were earlier this year.

Politicians from Queen’s Park to SDG Counties have been in the mood to give themselves raises lately. Following the provincial election, the first piece of legislation passed at Queen’s Park in May wasn’t solidifying the province’s shaky economy under threat of American tariffs, or funding more staff in schools. Members of Provincial Parliament voted themselves a 40 per cent raise.

Don’t believe for a second this was just the Doug Ford-led Progressive Conservatives who voted for this $40,850 per year pay bump – the legislation had support from the NDP and Liberal opposition parties as well. The Ministry of Finance was quick to point out that MPPs are still paid less than a city councillor in Toronto. What a shame! Now, MPPs will earn 75 per cent of what federal Members of Parliament make.

MPPs haven’t received a pay raise since 2009. Pay increases were tied by legislation to the province balancing the budget. Since no government since 2009 has figured out how to spend less than they receive in revenues, something just had to be done in order to attract the best and brightest candidates for office. That same argument was made last week in Cornwall, where Stormont, Dundas, and Glengarry council adopted a 40 per cent increase for council members, and a 25 per cent pay increase for the Warden.

While SDG Counties’ pay increases amount to $6,351 and $10,567 respectively, those pay increases are still sizable considering the number of hours per month dedicated to the job. At least an MP or MPP is a full-time job.

Counties council meets at most twice a month during budget time, and once a month for the rest of year, all for about three-to-four hours a meeting. It seems like the ratio of pay to hours worked is quite high for this council.

Another pay increase in Ontario that is tied to legislation is the minimum wage. On October 1, the minimum wage will increase by 2.4 per cent. That will add an extra 40 cents per hour to minimum wage workers’ pay cheques. In a self-congratulatory press release, Ontario’s Minister of Labour and a bunch of other things, David Piccini said, “Our government will continue to have the backs of Ontario workers.”

The new minimum wage, which increases to $17.60 an hour from $17.20, will add $835 per year – if that person works 40 hours a week. How many minimum wage jobs are full time though?

So, to clarify this just a bit: Provincial politicians work full time, and they get a big raise. Municipal politicians work part time, and they get a big raise. But if you’re not a politician, and you work for minimum wage, you get a little raise. That doesn’t sound right, does it?

To justify the large raises they give to themselves, politicians point to needing to attract more qualified candidates to elected office. That’s a great idea. Let’s elect some minimum wage workers to office. They are hard working individuals. Having that work ethic in the “corridors of power” would be a good thing.

Alternatively, we could tie pay increases for politicians to minimum wage increases. If the minimum wage increases because things are going well, then politicians are rewarded for doing a good job. If the minimum wage doesn’t increase, then no raise for the politicians. This may not work though. MPPs already had a performance-based raise scheme, and no one got a raise in 16 years.

This column was originally published in the September 24, 2025 print edition of The Morrisburg Leader.