The time has come for governments to enact double dipping legislation when it comes to Members of Parliament (MPs), as well as for members of the Legislative Assemblies (MLAs) across the country.
On Monday, Aug. 1, Progressive Conservative (PC) leadership hopeful, Jason Kenney, launched his ‘Truck Tour’ in an effort to gain support to unite the province’s two right of centre parties, the PC and the Wildrose under one banner.
And there is nothing wrong with wanting that or running for the PC party leadership, except for one thing — he already has a job as MP for Calgary Southeast.
The question taxpayers should be asking themselves, especially in Kenney’s riding, is while he is travelling around the province on his ‘Truck Tour’, which he admits will take several months to complete, how much of his responsibilities will he be doing for the job he is actually being paid for?
It is true that Kenney has stated he will resign his federal seat once the provincial PC leadership campaign beginning on Oct. 1 when the party’s campaign starts in earnest, saying he still wants to represent Albertans on energy issues when the House resumes in September.
Good for him. If those issues are so important to him then he should focus on them and wait to declare his intention to run for the provincial PC leadership. Since July 6, how much of his time and effort has he actually devoted to the job he is being paid for?
As an MP, Kenney makes a base salary of $170,000, plus he has a staff, office and travel budget.
So basically, Canadian taxpayers have been paying Kenney to campaign for the PC leadership since early July.
Unfortunately, currently there is no requirement for Kenney to step down or take leave from his position. Precedent also seems to be on his side.
In 2014, former Conservative MP Patrick Brown announced he would seek the Ontario PC leadership. But Brown didn’t resign his seat in the House of Commons until May 2015, after he won the leadership.
But perhaps it is time for that to change. Let’s let our MP Arnold Viersen know that we want our MPs to do the job they are elected to do and not campaign for another office on someone else’s dime. It is something he would probably be receptive to because when he ran for office he had to take a leave from his previous job.
