Both Conservative MP Roman Baber and Liberal MP Angelo Iacono hold paid positions at law firms, and both have told The Hill Times they are in compliance with parliamentary rules. But some are now saying the rules should be changed to stop MPs from working side jobs.
In order to shield MPs from running into either real or perceived conflicts of interest, the House of Commons rules should be amended to bar elected officials from working in second paid jobs, say current and former MPs and political insiders.
“You’re paid well; do your damn job,” said Wayne Easter, a former Liberal MP and federal cabinet minister who held a seat in the House for about 30 years.
“You can’t do those two jobs at once. You were elected to be a Member of Parliament. You’re paid a very good salary as a Member of Parliament. You have staff to assist you in being a Member of Parliament,” said Easter.
“You should not be moonlighting with another job, and so my position is clear: the [party] leaders should go to those Members and say, ‘Look, do you want to work for law firm ‘ABCD,’ or [serve as an MP]? If you want those positions [second paid jobs], then put your resignation on my desk in five days.’”
According to the current House rules, cabinet ministers and parliamentary secretaries are not allowed to accept another paid role. But backbench government and opposition MPs can work a second paid job provided it does not conflict with their parliamentary duties.
With an annual base salary of $217,700, MPs are in the top five per cent of individual salary earners in Canada. On April 1 of every year, their base salary automatically increases by about $7,000. MPs who hold additional responsibilities such as being a cabinet minister, House speaker, deputy speaker, assistant deputy speaker, whip, deputy whip, parliamentary secretary, or opposition House leader receive additional pay on top of their base salaries. The House Speaker, cabinet ministers, and the leaders of the official opposition get an annual top-up of $103,600.
When MPs come to Ottawa to attend House sittings, or travel in and out of the country on government business, all boarding and lodging expenses are covered by the government. They also get health and dental insurance benefits, and are eligible for a pension after serving six years in the House.
The vast majority of backbench MPs do not “moonlight” at a second paid job, but there are some exceptions. For example, Conservative MP Roman Baber (North York, Ont.) is currently working as a lawyer for a Toronto-area law firm. The Hill Times reported last week that Liberal MP Angelo Iacono (Alfred-Pellan, Que.) works as a strategic adviser for a Montreal law firm. Also, The Hill Times reported back in January that Conservative MP Chak Au (Richmond Centre-Marpole, B.C.) was at the time also working as a city councillor. After the story was published, Au resigned from city council in early February.
Baber was not available for an interview last week, but his office sent a written statement to The Hill Times saying he is working part time, and accepted the second job after consulting with the federal ethics commissioner.
“MP Roman Baber obtained clearance from the ethics commissioner to engage in the practice of law part-time and is in full compliance with all conflict of interest and disclosure requirements,” the statement reads.
“Roman will continue to faithfully serve his constituents and performing his parliamentary duties to his outmost ability.”
Baber won his riding in 2025 by a margin of 12 percentage points, unseating then-Liberal cabinet minister Ya’ara Saks. He’s currently a member of the powerful House Justice Committee, vice-chair of the Canada-Israel Inter-Parliamentary Group, and a member of the Canada-U.S. Inter-Parliamentary Group. Prior to becoming an MP, Baber served in the Ontario legislature first as a Progressive Conservative MP, and later as an Independent. In January 2021, Ontario Premier Doug Ford dropped Baber from the PC caucus after the then-MPP called on the provincial government to move away from COVID-19 lockdown measures. Baber ran for the federal Conservative leadership during the 2022 race and came in fourth place.
Baber’s areas of practice, according to the law firm’s website, include bankruptcy and insolvency, business and corporate services, commercial litigation, and employment law and litigation.
Constituents expect their MPs to represent them full time: ex-MP Joe Jordan
Meanwhile, former MP Easter and others interviewed for this article said that when MPs work for private firms, they run the risk of ending up in conflict-of-interest controversies that could become problematic for themselves and their respective parties.
“That’s a strong possibility that there’d be conflict of interests in terms of someone you’re working for, and they have an issue, or maybe they’re a big company and they want to lobby the government for a contract,” said Easter.
“That’s a conflict. That can happen in the general sense where somebody comes into your office and they’re really pushing you, and so you go to [a] cabinet [minister] and try and push it.”
Former Ontario Liberal MP Joe Jordan said that, during his years in the House, he saw being an MP as a full-time job and never even thought about taking on additional paid work. Constituents expect their MPs to represent their interests full time, Jordan said, adding he supports barring MPs from getting second paid positions.
Jordan said that he represented the highly competitive riding of Leeds-Grenville, Ont., winning the 1997 election by six per cent and the 2000 election by a razor thin margin of 0.2 percentage points. Considering the demands of his House responsibilities and to stay engaged with constituents, Jordan said, he had no time to take on a second paid role.
“It never entered into the realm of my consciousness that I had spare time to do another job,” said Jordan, who now is a senior associate with Bluesky Strategy Group.
“You had to triage the things in front of you, and then events overtook that, and you’re constantly adjusting and putting out fires. I don’t know where the spare time would come from.”
Jordan said that MPs are designated public office holders, and are privy to information that is not in the public domain. He said that the best way to handle the possibility of running into a conflict of interest is to abolish the prospect of the second job. The only exception, he said, could be of MPs where they need a certain number of hours of work each year, such as medical professionals, to maintain their professional licences.
When the House is sitting, all national caucuses—including party leaders—meet behind closed doors to discuss political and legislative strategies on Wednesday mornings for two hours. In the case of governing parties, prime ministers share with caucus colleagues information related to the government’s national and international policies, and explain the rationale behind their policy decisions and political strategies. Depending on the significance of issues, cabinet ministers sometimes hold special caucus meetings to discuss a specific legislation or government policy.
When Parliament is in session, MPs meet with cabinet ministers, top ministerial and PMO officials, and the prime minister at social gatherings on the Hill. When the prime minister or ministers are visiting different regions of the country, local MPs host these events or are invited to these events. With these interactions, MPs have a lot of valuable information that is not in the public domain and could be helpful in their paid advisory positions.
Garry Keller, a former senior ministerial staffer in then-Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper’s cabinet, said that being an MP is a full-time job, and candidates know this before they seek the position. Between their parliamentary and constituency responsibilities, MPs have busy schedules starting early in the morning until late in the evening. Keller added that those who take on a second paid position would have hard time to balance the responsibilities of both roles.
“It’s a full-time job serving constituents. There’s a lot of travel involved. It’s a much more 24/7 job for Members of Parliament, and they’re well-remunerated,” said Keller, who served as chief of staff to interim Conservative leader Rona Ambrose from 2015 to 2017 and is now vice president at StrategyCorp.
“The time has come for the rules to be changed to restrict outside employment for all Members of Parliament. Doesn’t matter what party; it’s not a partisan issue. It’s just a good governance initiative, and most Canadians would probably support that. If we’re going to remunerate Members of Parliament at the level they [are] remunerated at and pay them well, then they should treat this like a full-time job. I think that’s only fair.”
‘If you want to be an MP, accept it’s a full-time job. Period,’ says Donald Savoie
Donald Savoie, Canada Research Chair in Public Administration and Governance at New Brunswick’s University of Moncton, said that over the years he has known numerous MPs. A majority of them worked seven days a week, according to Savoie, who said he finds it odd that some MPs have enough time to do a second paid job. He said that if MPs don’t consider their parliamentary work to be a full-time job and are not satisfied with a base salary of $217,700, they should not run for federal office. He said that with two jobs, MPs cannot give the full-time attention their role deserves to represent their communities. If MPs do their parliamentary work properly—including conducting the proper research to vote on the government’s spending estimates—there’s no time left to do a second job, according to Savoie.
“Why is it that some MPs tell me they work on weekends and often seven days a week, where other MPs say, ‘Oh, I can have a second job’? It doesn’t square with reality. So, if you want to be a Member of Parliament, accept that it’s going to be a full-time job. Period,” said Savoie, an award-winning author, editor, and co-editor of more than 28 books.
“If you run for Parliament and you represent a constituency of anywhere between 50,000 and over 100,000 people—[to represent] the interests and look after your community—it just makes absolutely no sense to think that it’s a part-time job. It’s not.”
Some Liberal MPs interviewed for this article said they support the idea of changing House rules to prohibit MPs from taking a second paid position. They said it would be helpful in addressing the perception of a conflict of interest, and to fully focus on their jobs full time in representing their constituents.
“I just can’t see myself being in a world where I would pick up a second job,” said one Liberal MP, who spoke on not-for-attribution basis in order to speak freely.
“I just won’t have time. I’m way too busy. I have a certain work ethic. I don’t know how I could [look my] my staff in the face and say, ‘Hey, I’m going to my second job.’”
A second MP agreed: “If I was a constituent, I could stomach if my MP bought an investment property, I could stomach if they are putting money into shares, but I don’t know if I will be happy with them for doing a [second paid job].”
“Perception wise, it [a second job] may cause some concerns from Canadians who are making $60,000 on average a year.”
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