If the positions have been filled with qualified individuals, why are we so worried about added pay hikes, especially given the fact we are living in tough economic times AND these people are already among the highest paid in the province?
This week three new executives took the helm of SaskPower, SaskTel and Crown Investments Corp., the umbrella corporation for the major Crowns. But not one is coming from outside the province, or the Saskatchewan government, for that matter. Some - including the province's premier Brad Wall - say that's because Saskatchewan Crown Corporation Executives aren't paid as well as their counterparts in other provinces. But what matters more - where a person is from, or what their qualifications are?
When the appointments were announced Wall said he was confident the government had hired the "best candidates" but also that there was an ongoing issue. "The last five or 10 years we have seen the salaries of executives in the private sector and in other Crowns grow exponentially and it is a challenge to the province going forward," he told reporters at the time. "We need to move in that direction so that... we've struck this reasonable balance between what is acceptable to the public, to the taxpayers, to the shareholders in terms of compensation for senior executives and also a level that attracts effective senior executives."
Is Wall suggesting that the individuals who were hired (who happened to already have senior Sask. government positions but were just shuffled around) aren't effective executives?
Longtime civil servant and current CIC president Ron Styles became SaskTel president, replacing Robert Watson, who is taking charge of SaskPower. Richard Carter, chief of staff to the finance minister, became CIC president.
Are we to hike pay levels just because Ontario is doing it, or should we do what's right for Saskatchewan?
Pay levels should be based on skill and results - not to keep up with the Joneses.
