WOW. That's about all I have to say. While plenty of Saskatchewan residents struggle to make ends meet - many living pay cheque to pay cheque - did you know Bill Doyle, the President and CEO of Saskatchewan's Potash Corp. took home a whopping $11,264,973 last year? (That amount includes his $1,136,000 base salary, stock options and other bonuses.) Wow!
Cameco Corp's outgoing CEO Jerry Grandey earned $6,826,500 last year and the company's incoming head honcho will be pulling in millions also.
I get that you have to actually pay to keep quality people on the payroll and you can call me jealous, but how can just one man be worth over 11 million? I mean, really.
According to Statistics Canada the average Saskatchewan worker brings in just $862.86 per week. Compare that to $216,634 a week for Doyle. Hmmm... The argument is that they (the CEOs) are put in the position of being the CEO because they have certain competencies, they have certain skills and there's a belief - typically at the level of the board, because that's who hires these people, the board of directors - that these people will drive value for shareholders, based on the compensation that they are receiving.
It's true, you need a competent and skilled person to head up a big operation and to keep them from being enticed elsewhere you have to pay them well, but isn't $11 million in one year a bit extreme?
While it's definitely to a lesser extent, some Saskatchewan health region CEO's are also in line for some hefty pay hikes. The Prince Albert Parkland Health Region board announced last week that its CEO will be getting a 60 per cent raise. Sixty per cent?!?
Earlier this year both the Saskatoon Health Region CEO and the Regina Qu'Appelle Health Region CEO saw their salaries hiked to $376,700 - that's BEFORE benefits and allowances.
"It's a slap in the face to unionized health workers such as those belonging to the Health Sciences Association of Saskatchewan, who have been unable to reach a deal on a new contract." says NDP leader Dwaine Lingenfelter. And I tend to agree with him.
It may be a little like comparing apples to oranges but as far as I'm concerned pay should be based on performance and results. If we are struggling to staff our hospitals and to keep wait times to a minimum, perhaps these issues should be key before we worry about 60 per cent administrative salary hikes.
