salaries

Saturday April 14, 2018

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday April 14, 2018

Doug Ford vows to fire CEO and board of Hydro One if elected premier

January 15, 2016

Doug Ford says that if he is elected premier this spring, he will fire the CEO of Hydro One and the company’s board of directors.

The Progressive Conservative leader says he would dump CEO Mayo Schmidt because the head of the partially privatized utility presided over a dramatic increase in rates and earned a $6.2 million salary last year.

Tory energy critic Todd Smith says in order to fire Schmidt the government would have to first fire and replace the Hydro One board, which would then have to fire the CEO.

Smith says it’s also not clear how much it would cost to fire the CEO since his contract is not public.

Smith says the party will have further details on how it plans to address hydro costs at a later date. (Source: Hamilton Spectator) 

Published in the Niagara Falls Review

 

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Saturday March 28, 2015

Saturday March 28, 2015Editorial cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday March 28, 2015

Ontario’s ‘sunshine list’ tops 100,000 members for first time

Ontario’s taxpayer-funded $100,000 club includes more than 100,000 members for first time ever.

Find out who made what: the Star’s searchable databases

The annual “sunshine list” of six-figures-and-up earners on the provincial public payroll released Friday included 111,440 people in 2014 — 13,644 more than the 97,796 the year before or a 13.9 per cent increase.

That means the equivalent of the population of cities the size of Burlington or Thunder Bay made this year’s tally, which was curated in six volumes spanning 2,491 pages.

As usual, Ontario Power Generation chief executive Tom Mitchell, who runs the nuclear operation, was the province’s highest paid civil servant, taking in $1.555 million last year.

The silver medallist was also from OPG with former chief financial officer Donn Hanbidge, fired after a scathing 2013 auditor general’s report on the electricity utility, receiving $1.208 million, including severance.

Bronze went to University of Toronto Asset Management Corporation’s president and CEO William Moriarty at $937,500.

“The people of Ontario have a right to know how their dollars are being spent. Ontario has the leanest government in Canada while still providing high-quality public services that people can rely on,” Treasury Board President Deb Matthews said in a statement at Queen’s Park.

“Today, we are releasing the 2014 public sector salary disclosure list as part of our government’s commitment to be the most open and transparent government in the country,” said Matthews, who made $165,851.

Premier Kathleen Wynne, whose salary, like all MPPs, has been frozen for seven years, earned $208,974. Interim Progressive Conservative Leader Jim Wilson made $159,266 while NDP Leader Andrea Horwath took home $158,157. (Source: Toronto Star)

Friday, December 13, 2013

Friday, December 13, 2013By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday, December 13, 2013

It pays to be an Executive working for the Ontario Government

Ontarians have for too long been the victims of a culture of entitlement at Ontario Power Generation, says Premier Kathleen Wynne.

She was reacting Wednesday to a scathing report from the provincial auditor general that slammed the utility for its overly generous salaries, bonuses and pensions.

“I am deeply concerned about what seems to be the culture in that organization, which is why changes are being made. We are going to bring in legislation to actually allow us to have more ability to control those compensation packages,” Wynne told reporters at Queen’s Park.

Ironically, she had just spoken to members of CARP, a senior advocacy group, about enhancements to the Canada Pension Plan.

Auditor general Bonnie Lysyk said the “very generous” compensation for senior staff at OPG, which was created after Ontario Hydro was broken up, is being passed on to ratepayers, who face a 42-per-cent rise in their electricity bills over the next five year.

Within hours of the damning report being delivered, Energy Minister Bob Chiarelli announced that three highly paid senior OPG executives were canned.

The compensation controversy is just the latest to hit the minority Liberal government bedevilled by a litany of spending problems, including the gas plants debacle that could cost taxpayers up to $1.1 billion. (Source: Toronto Star)

The governing Liberals confirmed Wednesday that ousted Ornge CEO Chris Mazza collected $9.3-million over six years at the province’s publicly funded air ambulance service.

The figure, which was recently reported, “is accurate,” Health Minister Deb Matthews said Wednesday after testifying at a legislative committee.

That includes salary, bonuses, expenses and other fees, she said. A summary sheet outlining what Mazza collected will be provided to the committee to “make it all clear.”

A legislative committee looking into the Ornge spending scandal had previously heard that Mazza made $1.4-million in a single year, on top of hefty loans totalling $1.2-million. (Source: Toronto Star)

Tuesday August 14, 2012

By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator, Tuesday August 14, 2012

eHealth CEO Greg Reed takes $81,250 bonus

The man brought in to lead eHealth Ontario following a scandal that rocked the Liberal government will get a bonus of about 25 per cent on top of his $329,000 salary this year, while staff at the agency have turned to the courts to get back the bonuses they were promised but denied.

EHealth president and CEO Greg Reed will be paid a bonus of $81,250 this year, agency spokesman Robert Mitchell confirmed Sunday.

The government wants all public sector workers, including doctors, nurses and teachers, to take a two-year wage freeze to help eliminate a $15 billion deficit, and told managers and executives at its agencies to lead by example.

The bonus was “part of a standard employment contract” negotiated between Reed and the eHealth board of directors, Mitchell said.

“Comparatively, his salary is significantly lower than peers at other agencies,” he said.

Reed was not available to comment Sunday, nor was the chair of the eHealth board, Raymond Hession.

The opposition parties called on Health Minister Deb Matthews to cancel Reed’s bonus as she did the bonuses for more than 600 eHealth staff.

“This latest eHealth fiasco is a slap in the face to Ontarians who are being asked to tighten their belts,” NDP health critic France Gelinas said in a release. (Source: Toronto Star)