The Canadian Taxpayers Federation says trying to make inroads on the country’s $1 trillion debt should start with leadership and restraint at the top.

Federal Director Franco Terrazzano says, “Taxpayers expect to see leadership from this cabinet and that means the Prime Minister should be shrinking cabinet and all politicians should reverse the two pandemic pay raises.”

The CTF says Justin Trudeau appointed 38 ministers to his cabinet yesterday. The salary cost of this cabinet is $10.8 million per year, which is about $3 million more than the cabinet Trudeau appointed in 2015. This annual calculation only considers the starting base salary for each minister and does not include any other benefit or any additional staffing costs.

Trudeau’s current salary is $371,600 and each minister is set to receive $274,500. All members of Parliament received two raises during the pandemic. The annual salary for the prime minister is $13,800 higher than it was pre-pandemic, while ministers are receiving $10,100 more than pre-pandemic.