TORONTO – Ontario Power Generation did not publicly consult on a maximum $3.8-million salary for its CEO or up to $8 million in raises for about 80 executives.
But the Liberal government won’t order the nuclear operator to redo its public consultation to include the dollar figures, as it acted “in good faith.”
As a wage freeze lifts, all broader public sector agencies have until September to post their proposals for new executive compensation packages under a framework that caps salaries at the 50th percentile of “appropriate comparators.”
READ MORE: Ontario PCs promise to review salaries of public sector CEOs, executives if they win 2018 election
The Progressive Conservatives have been making political hay over the OPG salary caps and raises, as well as a potential raise of up to $118,000 for the head of transit agency Metrolinx, criticizing the government over the large amounts while “regular families struggle to make ends meet.”
Treasury Board President Liz Sandals brushed aside concerns over the optics when she was asked how she thinks the raises look to people sitting on a delayed GO train.
“When you really stop and think of it, most of the people sitting on the GO train probably don’t have high-level nuclear qualifications or the business qualifications to run a multi-billion-dollar corporation,” she said.
“The talent is exceptional to be in those exceptional positions.”
PC Leader Patrick Brown called Sandals’ remarks condescending.
“We found the comments of Liz Sandals disparaging towards commuters,” he said.
“Coming from the city of Barrie myself, I can tell you there’s some very smart individuals, very capable, very talented individuals that ride the GO train every day.”
OPG, which operates two nuclear sites and is responsible for more than $40 billion in assets, was granted permission by the government to use private-sector comparators because of its unique size and scope.
It posted an 11-page document on its website through December for public consultation that detailed how it calculated executive salary caps, but didn’t actually post the caps themselves on a 12th page until Jan. 1, when the consultation was over.
The Treasury Board, the department that controls the government purse strings, said OPG was the first public sector agency to undergo the process and OPG “worked in good faith” to ensure the final document was in compliance. The government is reminding all broader public sector organizations going forward that they must post their salary caps during the public comment phase.
OPG received four public comments during its consultation. Sandals admitted it’s “entirely possible” they would have received more if the dollar figures were included.
READ MORE: Ontario Power Generation to raise salaries by up to $8M, Metrolinx proposes CEO salary boost
“When you do something the first time not everybody gets it perfect and what’s most important to me is that they actually did arrive at the correct conclusion, that their actual technical work was correct,” she said.
Energy Minister Glenn Thibeault said OPG was experiencing a brain drain, so retention is important.
“For me it’s about safety, the safety of our nuclear plants and OPG right now, we need to ensure that we have the best nuclear technical experts we can get and I’d much rather have them working in our plants than leaving our plants,” he said.
Former Liberal energy minister George Smitherman weighed in Wednesday night on Twitter, writing that Thibeault has “taken the nuclear bait in allowing CEO salary to go hog wild” and urging Thibeault to “get a backbone.”
Thibeault said a $3.8-million cap is not “hog wild.”
“The backbone that I have is making sure that I look after the safety of the people of Ontario by having the proper people in place to ensure we’re running our nuclear facilities the best possible way that we can,” he said.
OPG has said the CEO’s salary – which has been $1.5 million over the past couple of years – will actually remain unchanged for three years, but the other approximately 80 executives will now be eligible for merit pay, and when the new program is fully implemented in 2019, that’s expected to cost an extra $6 million to $8 million annually.