VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – You might be surprised to learn you paid nearly $111 million last year in pension contributions for Members of Parliament.

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation says for every dollar an MP puts into his or her pension, you put in $24. The organization has launched a campaign hoping to change that.

“MP pensions are the pinnacle of political pork,” according to spokesman Jordan Bateman, who says MPs routinely get huge payouts. “If there’s another job in this country where you can qualify for a multi-million dollar pension after six years, I’d like to see it.”

The campaign, both on billboards and online, pushes for an overhaul the pension system.

“Most private sector companies match dollar for dollar the RSP contributions,” Bateman adds. “We think that would be fair for MPs. It certainly would cause them to pay more attention to the economic growth of the nation if they themselves had money tied up in it.”

Pension reform is something Prime Minister Stephen Harper has hinted at for the fall, but Bateman is hoping for a major overhaul instead of what he calls ‘minor tinkering.’

Bateman says the system now is the richest in the country.

“This is a plan that is so rich, that it’s illegal under the income tax act,” Bateman claims. “Only an Act of Parliament allows it to exist.”

And he claims sacrifices are being made. “When you look at it in BC’s context, when they’re trying to cut the Kitsilano Coast Guard Station to save, what, $900,000? That’s less than the first year’s pension payout to the BC Conservative Caucus.”

Billboards showing the 24:1 ratio have also been set up in Calgary, Regina, Ottawa, and Halifax.

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation has released a list of BC MPs and their projected pension payouts (based on the Federation’s calculations). The highest paid, according to the list, is Heritage Minister James Moore who will receive a lifetime sum of $3.8 million if he retires in 2019.