My name is Franco Terrazzano. I'm with the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, and I'm here to give a voice to hundreds of thousands of Canadians who don't want you to delay the next election and stick taxpayers with the bill for millions in pensions for members of Parliament.

The government's proposal to delay the election by one week would give taxpayer-funded pensions to up to 80 MPs who would otherwise not qualify. That's up to $120 million in pensions for those politicians. Some of those politicians will have served for barely six years and receive more than $2 million in pensions—six years for $2 million in taxpayer-funded pensions.

There are two simple things the government could do to avoid sticking ordinary Canadians with a huge bill for taxpayer-funded pensions for dozens of politicians who don't deserve them.

First is to make the election earlier. There are about 350 days between now and the next scheduled election date of October 20, 2025. I have confidence that at least one of the 338 members of Parliament and 400,000 federal government bureaucrats can figure out one day out of those 350 days to hold the election.

Second is that if, somehow, not a single MP or bureaucrat can figure out an election date on one of the 350 days between now and next October, then change the pension eligibility date so it's after the next election. Making taxpayers pay tens of millions of dollars so dozens of extra politicians can take a pension is unacceptable. Moving the election by just one week will mean up to 80 MPs will receive a pension they shouldn't. Those pensions will total up to $120 million. Even if the final cost to taxpayers is half of that—say, $60 million—think of the money you're taking out of people's pockets and think about how that conversation is going to go the next time you're knocking on your voters' doors.

Sixty million dollars is a year's worth of groceries for 3,000 families. Are you going to look your voters in the eye and tell them pensions for politicians are more important than food for families? Sixty million dollars is 4,000 families' income tax bills. Are you going to look your voters in the eye and tell them pensions for politicians are more important than cutting taxes for their entire neighbourhood? If you're not willing to have that conversation, you shouldn't be willing to give dozens of extra politicians a pension.

If you do change the date of an election to give dozens of politicians a pension, think of what you're doing. You're taking more money out of the pockets of your voters; you're taking more money out of the pockets of your local businesses; you're taking more money out of the pockets of the plumbers, paramedics, pilots and police officers in your communities; and you're giving their money to highly paid politicians in Ottawa who shouldn't qualify for that pension—politicians whose yearly salary is already between $200,000 and $300,000, politicians who take a pay raise every single year and politicians who already get a $100,000 severance and a $15,000 transition allowance.

I know, as I'm sure you do, too, that there are countless Canadians who are losing sleep worrying about the cost of groceries, worrying about the rising pile of bills they need to pay and worrying about coming up short for Christmas, but I bet there isn't a single Canadian losing a single second of sleep worrying that a politician in Ottawa may not get a lifetime taxpayer-funded pension.

Politicians should use their six-figure salaries, which are about triple that of the average salary of the average Canadian worker, to save for their retirements. Politicians should not try to move a scheduled election so more of them can collect a taxpayer-funded pension for the rest of their lives.

It's hard to blame taxpayers for wondering why the government wants to move the election date. The government says it's moving the election to avoid a religious holiday, but the simple fact is that 80 MPs aren't eligible for their taxpayer-funded pension until the day after the scheduled election. At minimum, you have to admit that raises a very important question: Is this really about a religious holiday, or is this really about pension eligibility for dozens of extra politicians?

Fortunately, you can put that question to rest. If you want to move the election to avoid a religious holiday, that's fine. There are two simple solutions for moving the election to avoid a religious holiday without taking millions more from taxpayers: Make the election earlier, or make the pension eligibility date just a little later.

Thank you.

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