Sunshine List Shines Light On Need For Hard Cap On Public Sector CEO Salaries

Submitted by the Office of Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath

Queen’s Park, March 28, 2013  –  New Democrat Leader Andrea Horwath renewed her call for a hard cap on public sector CEO salaries following the release of the 2012 Sunshine list.

Kevin Smith, supervisor of the Niagara Health System and CEO of the St. Joseph’s Health System in Hamilton was high on the Sunshine List with a 2012 salary totalling around $721,000.

“When public sector CEOs are getting pay hikes that are bigger than most people’s pay cheques something’s not working. We need a hard cap on CEO pay in the public sector,” said Horwath.  “Money that should be going to frontline health care or lowering tuition fees, is being spent on CEO salaries, and that’s not fair for families who are struggling.”

Horwath has reiterated her call to cap publicly-paid executive salaries at double the salary of Ontario’s Premier. The Premier’s current salary is $209,000. According to the provincial sunshine list, there are over 25 public sector energy executives making more than twice the Premier’s salary, and while everyday Ontarians are told to tighten their belts, public sector executives continue to receive generous raises on top of six-figure salaries.

• Tom Mitchell, the CEO of Ontario Power Generation made $1.7 million
• Laura Formusa, the CEO of Hydro One made $1.036 million, with a raise of over $70,000 (almost twice the pay of the average Ontarian)
• The CEO of London Health Sciences Centre made over $600,900, including a raise of over $45,000
• The CEO of Sunnybrook in Toronto made over $760,000, including a raise of over $50,000
• The CEO of St. Joseph’s Health Centre in London made $470,000, including a raise of $20,000
• CEOs at all 5 major downtown Toronto hospitals made well above a proposed cap of $418,000

“Until we have a hard cap on public salaries, Ontarians can expect to see the pay packets of public executives continue to grow at the expense of public services,” said Horwath.  “A single million-dollar salary is enough to keep over a dozen nurses on the job. Ontarians want their government to know where its priorities should be.”

An Afterword from Niagara At Large –

 Further to the salaries for CEOs listed above, in Niagara, Ontario, we have Kevin Smith, the provincially appointed supervisor for the Niagara Health System and CEO for the St. Joseph’s Health System in Hamilton, topping the list for 2012 at $721,403.49.

The Niagara Health System’s interim president and CEO Sue Matthews made $329,825.08, Brock University’s president Jack Lightstone made $333,576.00, Niagara College’s president Dan Patterson made $329,223.68 and the Niagara regional government’s CAO Mike Trojan made $242,616.63.

 In the ranks of Niagara police, firefighters, health care workers, educators and others  – many of whom are members of public sector unions – the number who made the 2012 Sunshine List has also swelled.

 So as much as it is legitimate to focus on senior administrators, as Horwath’s NDP has done, it is also legitimate to look at the number of public sector union members on the list, even though this may be harder to do for a political party that has been historically aligned with unions.

 Niagara At Large will post more on the the latest Sunshine List later. In the meantime, you can do your own searching of who is on the list by clicking on   http://www.fin.gov.on.ca/en/publications/salarydisclosure/pssd/ and navigating your way through the site.

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