Retired MLA entitled to $52K in severance

Janice Sherry, who retired from P.E.I. provincial politics on Aug. 1, is entitled to more than $52,000 in severance.

• Summerside-Wilmot MLA Janice Sherry leaving provincial politics

That's in addition to the pension she'll receive as a retired MLA.

Outgoing MLAs receive severance worth one month's pay for every year in office, to a maximum of one year's base salary. Sherry was first elected to the Summerside-Wilmot district in 2007, and held a number of cabinet posts during her time in the legislature.

Promises of change

The severance plan has been criticized by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation and the NDP as too generous.

Premier Wade MacLauchlan has said repeatedly he will change it. In its first throne speech in June 2015 his government pledged to "further review MLA compensation and benefits, and specifically will bring forward proposals to reduce transitional allowances for MLAs," but no changes have been made to date.

Sherry is one of 11 former MLAs who've left office since the start of 2015. The total severance owed to those 11 is approximately$685,000.

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