Reform Party Leader Preston Manning and MP Stephen Harper hold a news conference in Ottawa on Dec. 7, 1995.Peter Jones/Reuters
They rode into Ottawa as freshman MPs decrying the "fat-cat" pensions on offer, and now, many years later, the handful of former Reformers still serving in Parliament have racked up generous retirement packages of their own.
It's an awkward blessing of riches for 11 former Reform Party MPs - including Prime Minister Stephen Harper - as the restraint-minded Tory government ponders cutting public-servant retirement plans to help slay the deficit.
Nearly all former Reformers still in the Commons are in line to receive annual pension payouts of more than $100,000 - stipends that are fully indexed to the cost of living and fully guaranteed by the taxpayers of Canada.
The Conservatives are so far silent on any plans that would see members of Parliament share the pain as they considering curbing perks in the retirement packages of federal bureaucrats.
But the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, an advocacy group that calculated the pension payouts for 11 Reform MPs still in Parliament, said the Tories must lead by example and bring MPs' relatively generous pension schemes closer to the leaner private-sector average.
MPs' pensions were pared back in 1995 and rules were changed so they had to wait until 55 years of age to collect. Furthermore, they were banned from "double-dipping" - collecting a pension while taking another federal job.
But Derek Fildebrandt, national research director for the taxpayers federation, said MP pensions are still better than those of most Canadians.
The traditional defined-benefit pension plans - in which employees are guaranteed a certain payout upon retirement - are dwindling in the private sector as companies cut costs. They are disappearing in favour of defined-contribution plans - in which companies contribute but returns depend on the success of investments.
"If the government is serious about restraint, and including public-servant pensions as part of the plan, they need to demonstrate their commitment by bringing MPs' pensions into line with what most of the private sector has right now," Mr. Fildebrandt said.
He said it would be only fitting if Mr. Harper and the Conservatives took measures forcing MPs to shoulder part of the burden of restraint because it's the Tory Party that's inherited the populist inclinations of Reformers.
All but one of the former Reform MPs still in Parliament are now Conservatives, a product of their fact that Reform's successor, the Canadian Alliance, merged with the Progressive Conservatives in 2003. The exception is Liberal MP Keith Martin, who switched political teams in 2004.
Mr. Harper, first elected as a Reform MP in 1993, is in line to receive an annual pension payout of $150,244 a year based on his service to Dec. 31, 2010, according to the taxpayers federation's calculations.
His stipend would be larger except for the fact Mr. Harper quit federal politics in 1997 and only returned in 2002.
Treasury Board President Stockwell Day, the cabinet minister that Mr. Harper has tapped to lead the charge on restraint, has hinted that Ottawa itself must make "considerable sacrifices."
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Gold-plated perks
Eleven of the 52 Reform Party MPs who were elected in 1993 are still serving in Parliament. Ten are now Conservatives and one is a Liberal.
Reformers came to Ottawa decrying what they felt were gold-plated perks for MPs - but later signed up for the federal pension plan.
Below are estimates of the annual pension benefits these former Reformers are eligible for based on service to Dec. 31, 2010. These are predictions as Ottawa does not disclose payouts to individual MPs:
Jim Abbott, MP for Kootenay-Columbia: $108,516
Diana Ablonczy, MP for Calgary-Nose Hill: $126,076
Leon Benoit, MP for Vegreville-Wainwright: $104,778
Garry Breitkreuz, MP for Yorkton-Melville: $118,668
John Cummins, MP for Delta-Richmond East: $118,668
John Duncan, MP for Vancouver Island North: $80,648
Dick Harris, MP for Cariboo-Prince George: $118,668
Stephen Harper, MP for Calgary Southwest: $150,244
Jay Hill, MP for Prince George-Peace River: $142,637
Keith Martin, MP for Esquimalt-Juan de Fuca: $119,159
Chuck Strahl, MP for Chilliwack-Fraser Canyon: $155,733
Source: Canadian Taxpayers Federation
Steven Chase