The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is hosting a virtual retirement party for Sen. Mike Duffy, as the former journalist caught in an expenses scandal is set to pocket a $4,000 a month pension for life..Duffy reached the mandatory retirement age of 75 for Canadian senators on Thursday..“Duffy will get almost four thousand dollars a month for the rest of his life thanks to his taxpayer-funded pension,” said Franco Terrazzano, Federal Director of the CTF..“It’s good that some progress was made on pension reform a few years ago, but senators are still receiving very generous benefits, especially when the vast majority of taxpayers working outside of government don’t have a workplace pension.”.The CTF estimates Duffy will receive an annual pension of about $47,000. If Duffy continues to receive the pension to age 90, then he will have received a total of about $700,000 over those 15 years..The vast majority of Canadians working outside of government are not covered by a workplace pension, said the CTF..When including the salary he received during his time in the Senate, Duffy will have pocketed about $2 million from taxpayers, assuming he receives the pension for 15 years..The Senate’s budget for 2021 is $115.6 million, which represents an 11% increase over five years..The base salary of a senator is now $160,800. Senators have received two pay raises during the pandemic, with the base salary growing by $6,900..“Do we really need to spend north of $100 million for an unelected and unaccountable Senate?” said Terrazzano..“A hair cut to the Senate’s budget probably won’t keep too many Canadians up at night. This year taxpayers are wishing for a lower tax bill and a little less Senate when we blow out the candles.”.Duffy was appointed to the Senate in 2009 by Prime Minister Stephen Harper..The former journalist became embroiled in an expenses scandal in 2012 when he claimed his cottage in Prince Edward Island as his main residence and filed for housing expenses for his longtime home in Ottawa..He finally agreed to pay back $90,000 – but it was later revealed the money came from Harper’s chief of staff, Nigel Wright..The RCMP later charged Duffy with 31 criminal counts in connection to the scandal, He was acquitted on all counts in 2016. .He was suspended by the Senate at the time and launched an unsuccessful lawsuit for nearly $8 million..He has been sitting as an Independent senator..You can view the virtual birthday party here..Dave Naylor is the News Editor of the Western Standard.,dnaylor@westernstandardonline.com,.Twitter.com/nobby7694
