Former members of Manitoba legislature received more than $400K in severance
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WINNIPEG – Former Manitoba politicians who have retired or were defeated in the 2023 election received more than $400,000 in severance and transition payments in the 2024-25 fiscal year.
A report from the legislative assembly says the top recipient was former premier Heather Stefanson, who resigned her legislature seat in the spring of last year and received $96,000.
Politicians who quit or lose their seats are entitled to severance or transition payments under a formula set in provincial law.
They receive one month’s pay for every year served, with a minimum three months’ pay and a maximum of 12 months.
That means Stefanson, who held a legislature seat for 23 years, is entitled to the same severance as someone who served 12 years.
The money is aimed partly at helping politicians transition to new careers, often after a sudden election loss.
The money is also available to politicians who quit voluntarily to run for federal office such as Grant Jackson, a Progressive Conservative in western Manitoba who received $2,000 in the fiscal year that ended in March of this year.
Jackson resigned his seat that month and was elected to the House of Commons a month later in the Brandon-Souris riding.
The money can be taken as a lump sum or spread out in biweekly instalments, so some politicians defeated in the 2023 election continued to receive payments in 2024.
Jon Gerrard, a former Liberal leader who held a seat from 1999 to 2023, received $50,000 in the 2023-24 fiscal year and $52,000 in the 2024-25 fiscal year, the annual reports say.
Progressive Conservatives Reg Helwer, who represented Brandon West, and Ian Wishart, who held the Portage la Prairie seat, also collected more than $100,000 each over the two fiscal years as long-serving members, the reports say.
The total severance and transition money paid out in the 2024-25 fiscal year was less than one-third the $1.5 million issued the previous year, which saw many politicians retire prior to the election or lose their seats when voters elected the New Democrats after seven years of Progressive Conservative governments.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 14, 2025.