NDP bill would rein in soaring public sector executive salaries

QUEEN’S PARK – New legislation introduced today by NDP Leader Andrea Horwath would set a clear, uniform cap on the salaries of Ontario’s highest-paid public sector executives to ensure scarce public dollars could be redirected to vital front-line services where they’re needed most.

“Right now nurses are being laid off, hospitals are struggling to make ends meet, yet publicly-paid CEOs are taking home $700,000 a year,” Horwath said.

“When nurses are losing their jobs and fees and costs keep climbing, these sky-high compensation packages send the wrong signals.”

The new legislation would 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 100 executives making more than twice the Premier’s salary.

The bill would apply to all executives in the public sector subject to inclusion in the sunshine list. That ranges from the Ontario Public Service to crown agencies like Hydro One and OPG as well as hospitals and universities.

Horwath said the NDP legislation is needed in part because the McGuinty government’s recent pay-for-performance legislation could in fact make the problem of soaring executive compensation worse. She noted that Dr. Jack Kitts, the head of Ottawa Hospital, already receives performance pay and takes home over $725,000 per year, suggesting the government’s move could actually pave the way to pay executives even more.

“Until we have a clear, uniform cap on public salaries, Ontarians can expect to see the pay packets of public executives continue to grow at the expense of public services,” Horwath said.

“A single million-dollar salary is enough to keep a dozen nurses on the job. Ontarians know where the government’s priority