Conservative MP who wants to skip pay raise takes request to court

Conservative MP Mike Dawson is fighting to forego the annual pay raise given to members of Parliament, though the House of Commons argues he is legally required to accept the money.

The MP for Miramichi-Grand Lake, N.B., who first spoke out against the pay raise in February, filed an application for judicial review in Federal Court in June in a bid to reject the pay hike of nearly $8,000.

In his affidavit, Dawson said he made his request because he believes elected officials should demonstrate “fiscal restraint and solidarity with ordinary Canadians” facing unsustainable spikes in the cost of living.

“I continue to hold that belief,” he said.

Dawson said he has received more than 20,000 messages from Canadians expressing their support since February. Several of those letters were included in the affidavit’s appendix.

Members of Parliament made a base salary of $209,800 last year. In April, that figure increased to $217,700.

In an affidavit filed in Federal Court, House of Commons Clerk Eric Janse said all members of Parliament must be paid the amounts set out in legislation, and it would be both illegal and inconvenient to deviate from that.

Janse said Dawson’s salary, including annual adjustments, must be paid under the Parliament of Canada Act.

“Implementing the applicant’s request not to apply those annual adjustments would, in addition to being inconsistent with the Act, require the House administration to undertake administrative measures that are not required for any other member of Parliament,” he wrote.

Olivier Duhaime, a spokesperson for the Office of the Speaker of the House of Commons, said in an email that he expects Dawson to file a memorandum of fact and law by the end of August or in early September.

He said the House of Commons will then have 20 days to file its own memorandum of fact and law, which will set out the House’s position.

“We will not comment further or grant interviews while the matter is before the Court,” said Duhaime.

Dawson’s lawyer Robert Blakely told The Canadian Press he expects a hearing will take place in late December.

He said this is the first time the issue of MP pay increases has gone to court.

Blakely said Dawson has been donating his raise to charity but he’d like to be able to decline it.

“Our position is that what the Act does is it provides a mechanism for calculating what the increase would be. There’s nothing that says that an MP like Mr. Dawson can’t say, ‘I don’t want it,'” it said.

“My personal view is we want to attract high-calibre, highly moral people, people who have a social conscience, are reasonably progressive and want to look at the fiscal state of the country.

“So if you’ve got people who say, ‘Look, you can pay me less,’ I mean, we as the people of Canada shouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 14, 2026.

By Catherine Morrison | Copyright 2026, The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.