‘You’re paid well, do your damn job’: House rules should stop backbench MPs from ‘moonlighting,’ say current and former MPs and experts

Both Conservative MP Roman Baber and Liberal MP Angelo Iacono hold paid positions at law firms, and both have told The Hill Times they are in compliance with parliamentary rules. But some are now saying the rules should be changed to stop MPs from working side jobs.

Liberal MP Angelo Iacono, left, Conservative MP Roman Baber, and Conservative MP Chak Au. Iacono works as a strategic adviser at a Montreal law firm, Baber is working part-time at a Toronto law firm, and Au worked as a Richmond, B.C., city councillor while he was also an MP, but resigned his city council seat in February. The Hill Times photographs by Sam Garcia, Andrew Meade, and courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

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BY ABBAS RANA

October 19, 2026

In order to shield MPs from running into either real or perceived conflicts of interest, the House of Commons rules should be amended to bar elected officials from working in second paid jobs, say current and former MPs and political insiders.

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