Anyone who thinks an MPs salary isn't generous has a warped sense of what Canadians earn.

According to 2007 Stats Can data, an MP easily blows past the $89,000 annual income needed to qualify for the top 5% in Canada. The top 1% starts at $181,000, so the average MP may qualify once you factor in the various job perqs.

The cabinet ministers, at $233,000 annually, certainly get into the top 1%, or the top 237,000 wage earners in Canada. And that's all without the golden parachute severance entitlement on failure to get reelected or the gold-plated pension that kicks in after only 6 years in office.