Former Thunder Bay-Superior North MP Bruce Hyer is defending accepting extra pay from the Green Party while sitting as deputy leader in the House of Commons.
Hyer on Wednesday confirmed national media reports he received compensation from the Green Party for serving as second in command to leader Elizabeth May in Parliament since joining the party in December 2013.
“They’ve always had a policy of operating a stipend for the extra work and extra responsibility of being the deputy leader,” he said. “Those are totally separate issues. I kept the two jobs separate and even had a separate cell phone so I didn’t use parliamentary resources to do my deputy leader job.”
He added the payment was never a secret, though it has not been made public exactly how much was paid.
The leaders of parties with official status, meaning they have a caucus of more than 12 MPs, receive extra taxpayer funded compensation on top of their base salary, with even more for leaders of government and the Official Opposition.
It’s not clear if deputy leaders from other parties usually receive a stipend.
Hyer, who was first elected in 2008 and 2011 as a member of the NDP before becoming an Independent prior to joining the Green Party and being defeated by Liberal candidate and new Minister of Status of Women Patty Hajdu last month, denied the deputy leadership was the reason he made the move.
“There are very many reasons I joined the Green Party. The main reasons are they had the best leader, best platform, it’s the only democratic party that requires their MPs to put constituents before the party and I have absolutely no regrets in that regard,” Hyer said.
Despite not retaining his seat, Hyer remains deputy leader thoough he said he has not decided if he will keep the post into the future.
