Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo MP Cathy McLeod has donated an amount equal to the two per cent raise for members of Parliament that came into effect on April 1.

Other MPs, including Liberal, Conservative and NDP party leaders, have done the same.

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“I gave a big donation to the food bank and also provided some funding in the Cariboo for health-care workers who need to stay in hotels so they don’t put their families at risk,” McLeod told KTW.

McLeod, a four-term Conservative member if Parliament, has taken issue with the fact MPs are still receiving raises — which are granted automatically every April and based on average salary increases seen in the public and private sectors.

In McLeod’s opinion, MP pay raises should have been frozen, just as they were after the 2008 financial crisis.

“And that should have happened with the emergency legislation when we were called back to Parliament,” she said.

Prior to the raise, a member of Parliament in Canada earned a base annual salary of $178,900.

McLeod said those with jobs right now, including herself, are lucky, and that she will continue to look for ways to support the community.

“It’s totally inappropriate when people are laid off and small businesses are losing everything,” she said.