Sen. Grant Mitchell. (PERRY MAH/QMI Agency)

OTTAWA - A Conservative senator said her jaw just about hit the floor as she listened to a Liberal senator's assertion that parliamentarians will be more likely to take bribes if they are forced to share their pension contributions equally with taxpayers.

"I was stunned," Marjory LeBreton told QMI Agency.

On Wednesday, Alberta Senator Grant Mitchell told the Upper Chamber that by raising MP pension contributions to 50%, fewer people will get into politics and the financial burden could open the door to corruption.

"We could talk about brown paper bags with cash in it, because there is pressure all the time," he said. "That is why pay needs absolutely to be adequate."

LeBreton called the comments "insulting."

"This is still a generous pension. To say that a little less take-home pay would cause [parliamentarians] to start taking bribes is insulting in the extreme."

Tyler Meredith, pension research director at the Institute for Research on Public Policy, doubted whether the public would have any sympathy for the parliamentarians on this one.

"I think why this was proposed and why there was interest in moving the bill along quickly was because it's fair," Meredith said. "The cost should be shared equally. That's a basic feature of any plan."

Mitchell also suggested that reducing MP take-home pay would make it tougher for them to have family vacations - which are needed because MPs spend so much time away from their families.

Senator Patrick Brazeau, also present during the speech, begged to differ.

"I can tell you that whether I get $2,000 or $5,000 less on my pay, I will spend the same amount of time with my family," Brazeau said. "That is a Conservative principle."

Brazeau is currently in arrears on child-support payments to the mother of his 18-year-old son.