The topic of politicians and their pensions has been pushed into the spotlight following last week’s conviction of a former Nova Scotia MLA charged with misusing public money.

Russell MacKinnon pleaded guilty to breach of trust and was sentenced to four months house arrest.

Despite the conviction, MacKinnon will still receive his pension, but not everyone believes he should

“They are public figures and if they abuse that trust, then it should be taken away from them,” says one Halifax resident.

“I think they should pay back for whatever they took and then maybe a pension should be looked at,” says another.

Kevin Lacey, Atlantic director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, agrees.

“These are very rich taxpayer-subsidized pensions and politicians shouldn’t be entitled to them if they’re abusing taxpayer money while in office,” says Lacey.

MacKinnon tells CTV News he doesn’t believe politicians should lose their pension entirely, but he says money owed should be subtracted from their pension until it is paid.

Progressive Conservative leader Jamie Baillie wouldn’t give a firm ‘yes’ or ‘no’ when asked whether convicted politicians should get to keep their pensions, instead saying judges should have all the tools they need to get money back and impose real penalties.

“It means ensuring that judges can go at those pensions as part of the penalty for a breach of public trust, particularly this kind of breach,” says Baillie.

“Elected officials, civil servants, or employees of Crown corporations who are convicted of committing financial crimes against the taxpayer should lose the right to draw a publicly-funded pension,” says Nova Scotia Liberal Leader Stephen McNeil.

“MLAs or former MLAs convicted of a serious crime should feel the full force of the law, just like anyone else,” says Deputy Premier Frank Corbett.

There are pension-forfeiture laws in the United States, but a political scientist at Mount Saint Vincent University says he doesn’t see Nova Scotia following suit.

“Frankly, I just don’t see much political will to go in that route,” says Jeff MacLeod. “If anything, the opposite has been occurring. A trend to protect their own, frankly, and I don’t say that in a very happy way.”

MacLeod says public officials are held to a higher standard, and should be.

With files from CTV Atlantic's Jacqueline Foster