Latest news with #CarolHughes
CBC
26-05-2025
- Business
- CBC
Former northeastern Ontario MPs to get $59K to $119K in annual pension, says lobby group
The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is calling on the federal government to reign in the retirement pay for MPs, as four former members from northeastern Ontario become pensioners. For years, after every federal election, the lobby group has calculated how much each departing MP will receive in pension and publishes a list of estimates, because it says the government doesn't make those figures public. "It's taxpayers money. Canadians deserve to know," said the organization's federal director Franco Terrazzano. "I don't think it's going to sit well with many Canadians who are struggling just to get by." The federation estimates that former Timmins-James Bay MP Charlie Angus, will receive an annual pension of $119,000 after 20 years in the House of Commons. Not far behind him, Anthony Rota— who served 16 years as MP for Nipissing-Timiskaming, including nearly four as Speaker of the House— is estimated to be getting $113,000 every year. Both decided not to run again and neither replied to CBC's requests for comment. Carol Hughes spent 16 years as the MP for Algoma-Manitoulin-Kapuskasing before deciding to retire this year. She says the federation's estimate of her annual pension at $99,000 is probably accurate. "I don't think that anybody actually goes in there thinking 'Hey, I'm going to get a good pension, that's why I'm running.' I would hope not, because it's a lot of work," Hughes said. "I certainly didn't even know anything about the pension when I ran. And it's difficult for individuals to leave their careers behind, run for election and not have anything at the end of the day." Provincial politicians used to receive a similar pension after serving a minimum of six years, but that was scrapped nearly 30 years ago and replaced with a one-time severance payment. "I have heard from MPPs that they find it very difficult," Hughes said. "If we want to attract great candidates... we have to look at a proper benefit program." But she added that she does think a review of the pension system, or any long-standing policy, is always a good thing for the government. Marc Serré lost his seat in the April 28 election, after nine years as the MP for Nickel Belt. In a statement to CBC, he said the Canadian Taxpayers Federation estimate of his annual pension at $59,000 was "on the high side." "I'm grateful for the pension I received and deeply appreciate the many people who have reached out with support. Serving as a Member of Parliament comes with enormous personal and family sacrifices, and I'm proud of what we achieved together in Nickel Belt," the statement reads. "Unfortunately, pension figures are sometimes used as partisan wedges, when in reality they reflect service from across the political spectrum." Terrazzano says the taxpayers federation would like to see the federal government eliminate the second pension for prime ministers— Justin Trudeau gets one for his 17 years as MP, plus a second for his nine years as prime minister— as well as space out annual salary increases, which ultimately also drive up pension payouts. "There is no way that MPs should be continuing to give themselves higher pay every year," he said.
BBC News
24-05-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Fresh application lodged for sculpture honouring poet Ted Hughes
A fresh planning application for a sculpture to honour the work of former Poet Laureate Ted Hughes in his birthplace has been voluntary organisation Royd Regeneration wants to erect a 6ft 5in (2m) high iron sculpture in group had previously submitted a similar application, which was approved by planners two years ago despite objections from Mr Hughes' widow, Council will now consider the new application and publish a decision in due course. Hughes, who died in 1998, was born in Aspinall Street in the village in 1930 and lived there his family moved to Mexborough when he was of his most notable works include the poetry collections Lupercal, Crow, and Birthday Letters and the children's book The Iron Man. Currently only a small plaque near his former home makes reference to his connection to the village, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Regeneration, which works to raise Mytholmroyd's profile, is hoping to install the cast iron sculpture of a large milk churn and two life-sized foxes in the centre of the village, opposite the Dusty Miller in Burnley Road.A supporting statement with the application said nature played a part in the poet's work, with his boyhood in the Calder Valley providing some significant previous proposals were opposed by Hughes's widow, who wrote to the council saying she had not been consulted and did not think the design was the applicants said full a consultation had been done with the Elmet Trust, a Ted Hughes charity, and it felt uncomfortable for the village to feel it could not honour Hughes without the consent of someone who does not live the plans at the time, planners said objections were largely concerned with the subject matter and its relation to the character of Hughes, rather than siting and married his second wife, Carol Orchard, after his relationship with fellow poet Sylvia Plath ended. Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
CBC
25-03-2025
- Politics
- CBC
Campaigns not polls will decide federal election, former northern Ontario politicians say
Two former politicians and one soon-to-be former politician from across northern Ontario, and across the political spectrum, are cautioning against reading too much into early polling numbers as Canadians march toward the April 28 federal election. Instead they say the real battle will play out on the ground — through door-knocking, voter engagement and issue-focused campaigning. "Obviously, numbers are are good, but you know, in 2008 and 2011 and 2014 I had polling numbers telling me I was going to lose, and I won. And then in 2018 the polling numbers said I had a chance to win, and I lost," said Glenn Thibeault, who served as both Sudbury MP representing the federal NDP, and then as Liberal MPP at Queen's Park. "Polling numbers — take them with a grain of salt, because at the end of the day, what you need to do is have hard work." Carol Hughes—the NDP MP for Algoma-Manitoulin-Kapuskasing, who is retiring as her riding disappears from a redrawn electoral map— also pushed warned against putting too much stock in polling. "For years we've seen where the pollsters have indicated that the NDP wouldn't do very well, would lose their status, would disappear from the map," she said. "And I think that there's some people that would like to see that, but for the most part, what we have seen is that we've been able to punch above." We're in a federal election campaign and no one knows what it's like to run in an election more than people who have done it. Tony Clement was both a federal and provincial politician for the Conservatives. Glenn Thibeault was both a federal and provincial politician representing Sudbury, first for the NDP in Ottawa and then the Liberals at Queen's Park. Carol Hughes is the NDP for Algoma-Manitoulin-Kapuskasing and is not running in the next election. Campaign strategy There are five weeks of campaigning before Canadians head to the polls and Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is "off to a good start," according to former Parry Sound-Muskoka MP Tony Clement. "[Poilievre] has some very substantive policy issues that he's addressed, including a 15 per cent tax cut, and I think you're going to see that throughout the campaign that he has thought about the issues," said Clement, who served as both a federal and provincial cabinet minister. Hughes suggests that while smaller parties like the Green Party and the Bloc Québécois may have some impact, she thinks voters will ultimately focus on which party can deliver concrete results for Canadians during challenging economic times. She believes the NDP will emphasize their track record of helping people during inflationary periods, hoping voters will see them as the best choice. "We're certainly not going to be looking at pushing forward on the big spending that the Conservatives and the Liberals always do," she said. "They talk about tax cuts, but those tax cuts really just benefit the millionaires and the billionaires." Hughes criticized Prime Minister and Liberal leader Mark Carney, who pledged a one-point tax cut to the first income bracket and Poilievre's similar pledge of a 2.25 per cent tax cut. She argued that their proposed tax cuts for the first income bracket primarily benefit wealthy individuals rather than those earning $60,000 or less. But according to Thibeault, the Liberal tax reduction strategy aims to increase affordability by keeping more money in people's pockets, citing Carney's recent move to cancel the proposed hike to the capital gains tax. He argued that Carney's approach focuses on helping those at $60,000 and below by providing tax relief that will encourage people to spend money, addressing the broader issue of global inflation. The battle for seats in northern Ontario Hughes said she feels northeastern Ontario will be hurt by sending six MPs to Ottawa instead of seven, believing that is has made it more difficult to recruit candidates. "It was really unfortunate to see that the Conservatives weren't supportive of maintaining all the seats that we had in northern Ontario," she said. "I think really it's the voters at the end of the day, the northerners at the end of the day, that are the losers." According to Thibeault, northern Ontario represents a critical region for Canadian sovereignty, with strategic border towns like Sault Ste. Marie and economic centres like Sudbury. He said the area's resources are essential to national economic and strategic interests. As for the Conservatives, they're hoping to breakthrough in northern Ontario this election. "Northern Ontario punches above its weight and will be not only critical in the election, but I think post election, because of critical minerals being such an important aspect of going forward with our sovereignty and with our economic development that that will continue," Clement said.
