Partial list of top public sector earners released
Health executives, deputy ministers and pathologists continued to be among the best-paid members of Alberta’s public sector last year, according to new data released by the province.
The so-called annual “sunshine list” of the government’s top compensated employees is required to be released by June 30, but the province decided to disclose it more than a week early this year.
Many provincially funded boards, agencies and commissions have also released their 2017 figures, although the list is not complete. The University of Alberta and the Agriculture Financial Services Corporation, for example, have yet to reveal their top earners.
Here are some of the highlights from the data that is available so far.
GOVERNMENT STAFF
The government’s most highly compensated civil servant last year was Marcia Nelson, deputy minister of executive council, who took home $472,261 in salary and benefits.
Ray Gilmour, associate deputy minister of executive council and deputy minister of operations, was next with $434,920 in salary and benefits.
Seven pathologists, who work for the justice ministry and solicitor general, were also among the top government earners. Chief medical examiner Dr. Elizabeth Brooks-Lim earned $404,049 in 2017, while the other six were paid between $358,000 and $368,000. Fourteen government employees received more than $300,000 in total compensation, and 88 people earned more than $200,000 last year.
Premier Rachel Notley’s controversial former chief of staff, John Heaney, earned $287,122 last year.
Heaney resigned from the role in August 2017, then was re-hired by the government as an executive adviser two months later. Alberta’s information and privacy commissioner is investigating a complaint that Heaney interfered with freedom-of-information requests.
Three employees were granted severance in excess of $100,000 each, including Debra Ranville, a senior manager with environment and parks, who received $245,379 in severance.
The former director of budgeting, forecasting and reporting for the environment ministry received the money as part of an October 2017 legal settlement with government, the details of which are not public.
This year, all Government of Alberta employees who earned more than $108,784 had their salaries, cash and non-cash benefits disclosed. That number turned out to be 3,359 staff, down from 3,551 included on the previous year’s list.
The government has maintained a policy of pay freezes for non-unionized employees, and has taken additional steps to rein in compensation in other parts of the public sector.
BOARDS, AGENCIES AND COMMISSIONS
For employees of boards, agencies and commissions, the threshold this year to be included on the sunshine list climbed to $127,765 in total compensation. The data released to date shows that David Erickson, the president and CEO of the Alberta Electric System Operator, was the top earner in 2017 with $926,976 in pay and benefits. That represents an increase of nearly $50,000 from his earnings in 2016.
Next on the list were three health executives, including the CEOs of Alberta Health Services and Covenant Health, followed by several pathologists from Calgary Laboratory Services.
The highest severance payout listed so far was $442,557 to Jay Spark, the University of Alberta’s former vice-provost and associate vice-president of human resources.
Spark now runs his own consulting firm, and was hired by Mount Royal University’s board of governors to help negotiate a new contract with that school’s staff.
Jason Dewling, the former vicepresident of academic and research at Olds College, received severance of $378,086.
An agreement with former Alberta Gaming and Liquor Commission CEO Dwight (Bill) Robinson featured a severance payout of $165,808. Robinson left the role about six months before his contract expired.
HEALTH AGENCIES
Alberta Health Services president and CEO Dr. Verna Yiu was the health authority’s top paid employee, receiving more than $575,000 in base pay last year along with more than $78,000 in “other” compensation (non-taxable benefits).
Second on the list was Francois Belanger, vice-president and chief medical officer, who earned nearly $503,000 in base compensation and $68,000 in benefits.
The health authority had five people who surpassed the halfmillion mark in total compensation.
A total of 2,229 AHS employees reached the threshold in 2017 that required them to be included on the sunshine list, down from 2,335 the previous year.
The health authority is by far the province’s largest employer, with more than 100,000 staff on its payroll.
AHS paid out more than $3.2 million in severance in 2017, more than double the $1.4 million from the previous year. The biggest cheque went to Ann Colbourne, the former senior medical director of transformation and innovation, who received more than $309,000 in severance in addition to $320,000 in salary and benefits.
Colbourne is the new board chairwoman of NorQuest College and gave a $1 million donation to the college this week.
Former AHS senior program director David Matear received severance of more than $308,000.
At Covenant Health, president and CEO Patrick Dumelie was paid nearly $539,000 in base compensation in 2017 — a slight drop from the previous year — along with $32,000 in non-taxable benefits.
Dumelie was the only Covenant employee to break the half-million-dollar mark, though the Catholic health agency had five people earn more than $300,000 in total compensation last year.