Salary plans will be vetted before public gets a say

Liberals promised consultation in 2016

Proposed salaries for Hamilton’s public sector CEOs and senior executives will be sent to the province Sept. 29 without the public consultation originally promised.

Instead, the government will vet the maximum pay hike proposed and how the organizations came up with the numbers before the proposals are made public.

“This is a government that tries to talk about transparency and accountability but does anything it can to avoid that scrutiny,” said Conservative Treasury Board critic Lisa MacLeod.

“Public consultation for the Liberals is really just window dressing as it is in this case because they’ve already made the decision.”

One year ago, the government set rules ensuring the public would get a say when organizations like hospitals, universities, colleges and school boards decided minimum and maximum salary ranges for executives.

“Employers will be required to consult with the public when determining executive compensation programs and to post program details to their websites,” stated the Treasury Board announcement from Sept. 6, 2016.

“Failure to complete this process could lead to penalties.”

But in June, the government amended the regulation so it gets the first look instead at the proposed salaries and what organizations were used as comparators when determining appropriate compensation.

It will also have a chance to make changes before the pay ranges are made public.

“This process requires employers to submit draft executive compensation programs for government’s initial review before those programs are posted publicly,” said Matt Ostergard, spokesperson for Treasury Board president Liz Sandals.

“If the government determines that submitted programs are not clearly understandable or that the draft does not meet the Executive Compensation Framework regulation requirements, government will work with employers to improve their draft programs or revisit them before they are posted for public comment.”

NDP leader and Hamilton Centre MPP Andrea Horwath questioned whether the reviews would be done and the salaries posted publicly before the next provincial election scheduled for June 7.

“People have a right to know the compensation packages of those executives and they have a right to know how those compensation packages are going to change,” she said.

Horwath also asked: “What good is public consultation after the fact?”

“You’re basically saying you are going through the motions,” she said.

“Public consultation should happen in advance of policy so that the consultation informs the policy. It’s an insult to Ontarians to have that kind of a process.”

Democracy Watch says it’s not surprising the government changed the rules considering the public outcry when Ontario’s colleges were first out of the gate and made proposed salary ranges public in January.

Mohawk College could have hiked President Ron McKerlie’s salary by more than 50 per cent to $401,000 under its proposal. Senior executive pay could have increased by as much as 43 per cent.

The college did the mandatory public consultation primarily over the Christmas holiday period and included universities and the largest hospital networks in the province among its comparators.

The province rejected the college proposals and sent them back to the drawing board.

“Going into an election year, the government wouldn’t want a whole bunch of stories about government institutions trying to overpay their executives using the public’s money,” said Duff Conacher, co-founder of citizen organization Democracy Watch.

“The Ontario Liberals would face part of the blame for allowing that to happen.”

The new policy allows the province to pre-empt criticism by rejecting proposals it considers excessive before they are made public, he said.

“There would still be accountability because the public will learn about it but I don’t think there is a real opportunity for change,” said Conacher. “It’s going to make it pretty difficult for the public to roll back and change those proposals given that the province has already approved them.”

The Treasury Board maintains the new “enhanced approach” will still result in meaningful public consultation.

“Public consultation remains a key component in the government’s approach to managing executive compensation,” said Ostergard in a statement. “Ensuring that posted programs are compliant and transparent provides the public with the best opportunity to provide feedback during the consultation period. Each designated employer is responsible for addressing relevant public feedback to its proposed executive compensation program.”