The top three officials at BC Ferries received salary increases of up to 18.3 per cent for the 2021-2022 fiscal year, according to the company’s latest executive compensation disclosure.
During that timeframe, the base salary for then-CEO Mark Collins was $534,589, an increase of 9.4 per cent from $488,544 in 2019-2021. Collins was fired in July amidst service disruptions, with chief financial officer Jill Sharland taking over as interim president.
Sharland’s base salary increased from $363,750 to $430,432, a raise of 18.3 per cent, while chief operating officer Corrine Storey’s base pay rose from $388,227 to $451,817, an increase of 16.4 per cent.
Collins received the maximum possible compensation package of $635,095 altogether, while Sharland received $503,019 and Storey got $528,127 of a possible $537,388 each.
The figures were released the same month that BC Ferries dealt with a number of mechanical issues and crew shortages that led to some cancelled and delayed sailings on multiple routes.
They also come months after a report commissioned by the B.C. Ferry Authority compared remuneration for top brass at BC Ferries with a number of public sector organizations.
“New executives will receive remuneration in alignment with the recommendations from that review,” Joy MacPhail, chair of BC Ferries’ board of directors, wrote in a Tuesday statement.
“For example, the new CEO will earn a maximum total of $499,000, as per for the report commissioned by the BC Ferry Authority.”
The authority approved a new executive compensation plan for September 2019, but adjustments to align with it were delayed by the pandemic, she said. In 2022, executives received their remuneration as outlined in the 2019 plan, with ferry traffic returning to pre-pandemic levels and company performance “on solid footing,” MacPhail said.
BC Liberal Opposition Leader Kevin Falcon, criticized the increased compensation during 2021-2022 as sending “the wrong message to the public.”
“The key is to make sure you’re tying pay to results,” he told Global News. “The problem we’re having right now is we’re seeing very poor results, and missed sailings and ferries breaking down and all the challenges that the public has seen over the past few months, and yet at the same time they’re giving themselves exorbitant increases.”
Falcon criticized the NDP government in connection with both as it subsidizes a portion of BC Ferries’ operation costs and MacPhail is a former NDP MLA and cabinet minister.
Jim Abram, Strathcona Regional District director representing Discovery Islands-Mainland Inlets, said focus on executive salaries is misplaced.
After 35 years of dealing with the “ferry file” as an elected official, he insisted scaling back pay at the top will not address the core issues plaguing BC Ferries. He cited an ageing fleet, vessel shortages and the need for more qualified mariners as an example.
“If you saved $500,000, the executive salaries, what’s that going to do for replacing a multi-million dollar vessel? Nothing — that’s not even going to pay for the toilets.” he said.
“Come on, let’s look at the real problems.”