Alberta’s latest sunshine list is out and shedding light on the province’s highest public-sector salaries, a list that sees health professionals maintain a commanding presence in the top 10 entries.
Eight of the top 10 salaries reported so far belong to health professionals with the top salary reported in 2017 being chief medical examiner Elizabeth Brooks-Lim who earned over $361,000 along with over $42,000 in benefits.
In 2015, Alberta’s NDP government moved forward with legislation that expanded on salaries disclosed by the sunshine list, including those of doctors. At the time, the Alberta Medical Association said publicizing doctors’ salaries wouldn’t give the public an accurate picture of what they actually earn.
In a letter to members, AMA President Dr. Carl Nohr said much of their salary goes towards overheard costs like staff salaries and office space.
READ MORE: Alberta doctors voice concerns over salaries being made public
Watch below: In 2015, some Alberta doctors voiced concerns over having their salaries added to the province’s sunshine list.
Marcia Nelson, the deputy minister of executive council, was the top public sector employee who is not a paid health professional on the list, earning more than $357,000 in salary. However, when you factor in benefits, Nelson’s earnings surpassed even Brooks-Lim as they totalled more than $472,000.
Only one severance has been reported from 2017 so far: Debra Ranville, who worked as a senior manager with Alberta Environment and Parks, received over $245,000 in severance pay.
READ MORE: Alberta expands sunshine list to include high public sector earners
Watch below: In June 2016, Shallima Maharaj filed this report about the Alberta sunshine list.
The government defines the cash benefits that appear on the list as earnings like overtime, vacation payout, northern allowance, vehicle allowance and lump-sum payments while non-cash benefits include employer contributions to pension, medical and dental coverage, group life insurance and disability plans.
The Alberta government releases an annual sunshine list because it’s required to disclose salary and severance paid to its employees when the amount is greater than the annual threshold. Because of how the pay periods fall during the calendar year, the number of employees that are over the threshold in a given year can go up or down. This year, 3,359 employees exceeded the threshold ($107,071), down from 3,551 the year before.
The government is required to release the list before June 30. Public bodies do not have to submit salary information until then, it is possible the recently released list may include further entries.
READ MORE: Big salaries at Alberta’s two largest universities disclosed on sunshine list
The Public Sector Compensation Transparency Act stipulates the disclosure applies to deputy ministers, senior officials appointed by an Order in Council and paid by the Alberta government, employees within the offices of a minister, associate minister or the premier and employees as defined under the Government Organization Act.
Employees do have the ability apply to be exempted from the sunshine list if the information “could unduly threaten their safety.”
To view the sunshine list in its entirety, click here.
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