The
Master something or other Lord Stephen is installing 5 more of his Harper Issue
Senators. You know, the eight year
wonder voters.
I’m
not sure if he is gunning for a record here.
53 appointments in 5 ½ years. A
far cry from Sir John A. who appointed
91 Senators during his reign, but his reign lasted 19 years.
Mackenzie
King holds the record, 103… granted it took him 22 years.
The
holder of the highest average of appointments per year is John Turner. He only inducted 3 Senators, but he was only
in power for 2 ½ months. That makes 15
per year. I don’t think anyone will
touch that… but no one thought Rocket Richard’s 50 goals in 50 games would ever
be matched.
The
thing is, the other appointers followed the rules. You know, the Constitutional Rules about
Senate appointments.
The
original Senators were appointed for life, later amended to 75 years of age.
Steve’s
come with a best before date of only 8 years.
Here’s
the thing. Steve’s 8 year wonders will
all be eligible for a pension when they get unappointed. They’ll be suckling at the public teat to the
tune of over $30,000 per year. Not too
shabby. And then they’ll be replaced by
another batch of 8 year wonders.
I
don’t know what the average age of a Harper Party Senator is at appointment,
but it appears that most Senators are appointed in their 50s.
So
let’s say they’ll be sent to pasture at age 65.
Minimum
wage in the Senate is about $130,000 per year.
Each of these Senators will be eligible for over $30,000 per year in
pension.
Old
School Senators retire at 75, so they’ll draw likely quite a bit more than $30G
since the pension is based on years of service. But at age 75 they likely won’t be drawing
more than 5 to 10 years worth of pension.
Now
Harper’s Senators I’m guessing will be retiring around 65 on average so they’ll
be looking at 15 to 20 years of pension.
Now,
if the average Old School Senator sits for 20 years before retirement, the
Senate will turn over every 20 years or so.
If they make it to 85 years of age on average, there will be around 50
retired Senators pulling pension.
Harper
Senators on the other hand will cycle through the 105 seats in the Senate in 8
years. With an average a life span to
85, we will have over 260 retired
Senators every 20 years… and when the first to retire are reaching 85,
number 261 will be making their farewell speech to the Senate.
Now to the money. Senators accumulate 3% of their 5 best years
salary for each year of service. I’m
going to stick with my original $130,000/year even though they get increases
for being on committees and having more important positions. I’m assuming that these increases would be
about the same for both Old School and Harper Senators, so any number would be
more or less fair.
An
Old School Senator in my model will
draw 3% for 20 years making 60% of
$130,000 or $78,000/year.
A
Harper Senator will draw 3% for 8
years making 24% of $130,000 or $31,200
per year.
Nice. See how much cheaper Harper’s plan is, they
get less than half what the other guys get!
But… the old way we
have around 50 retirees at any time… 50 times $78,000 is
$3.9
Million.
Harper’s
way we have 260 time $31,200 for a yearly total of over
$8.1 Million.
Did
I mention we subsidize their pensions?
Fun
Fact: Senator Brazeau was appointed
to the Senate at age 35 under the old scheme… if he retires at age 75 (like he is
allowed)… his pension will be 39 time 3% of his best 5 years wages in the
Senate. Yeppers 117% of his best wages!
He’s
37 now, with the 8 year wonders he will see a new face in an old chair 5 times
before he retires.
I’m
depressed, how about you?
I’d
apply for a Senate seat (we know how fond Fearless Leader is of cats) but
velour and cat fur just don’t get along.
Who
am I kidding… for $1 Million + in wages for 8 years “work” and a comfy pension
to boot… I’ll shave my butt and vote any way you want Stevie!
Nice work!
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