Nigel Wright to Receive Severance after Resigning as PM’s Chief of Staff

This article was last updated on April 16, 2022

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The Prime Minister’s former chief of staff, Nigel Wright, who recently offered a voluntary and abrupt resignation amid Sen. Duffy’s wrongly acquired housing expense repayment scandal, will now be paid a substantial amount in severance. Severance is an exclusive benefit now available to only few Canadians as the Conservative government recently ended it for public servants. The government arguably discredited “voluntary severance” for public servants and implemented policy to terminate them through collective bargaining in 2011. However, severance was still upheld for political aides who work for the Prime Minister or cabinet ministers.

The Treasury Board President, Tony Clement, mentioned in a speech last year that he is eliminating severance for public servants who choose to “quit” their job because it is among “things that may not have made economic sense for a long time, but have been so ingrained that we never questioned them.” It was highlighted that Ottawa is compelled to pay almost $6-billion in built-up public-sector severance in lieu of existing contracts, and it was aimed that the government will eventually save taxpayers $500-million a year.

However, the government did not used same strategy or policy for ministerial staff, so the former Chief of Staff of Prime Ministers’ Office, Mr. Wright, is now entitled to receive severance worth two weeks’ salary for every year worked regardless of the reason behind his resignation. Another option for Wright was to receive “separation pay” worth up to six months’ salary, which is available for employees who have worked for more than four years.