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In late 2015, the legislature unanimously adopted a law removing the automatic right to a cash payment for retiring politicians.

Politicians in Quebec are given a so-called transition allowance based on their salary and time spent in office.

A veteran politician who has served in cabinet is eligible to receive up to about $167,000 in a lump sum payment or divided over a period of up to 36 months.

I think for some, (they are leaving) precisely because they aren't sure if their party will form the next government

Before the rule change, some members would run for a second, third or fourth term and quit during their mandate, collecting the money and triggering a costly byelection.

The new rules stipulate departing members can only collect transition allowances if they complete their term in office, with strict exceptions.

Photo by THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jacques Boissinot

“I think for some, (they are leaving) precisely because they aren’t sure if their party will form the next government,” Jennings said in an interview. “Maybe internal polls are showing their personal victory is not guaranteed.”

But for others, “their decision (to retire) has been precipitated by a change in rules,” she said.

“That is clearly, for some of them, why they are leaving now. If you step down before the end of your four-year mandate you get squat.”

A stint on the opposition benches is not necessarily something politicians dread, however, said Clifford Lincoln, who served in office at the federal and provincial level.

Lincoln entered Quebec politics in the early ’80s in opposition during Rene Levesque’s last mandate, a job he said he enjoyed.