OPG chief ’s earnings to jump to $1.53 million
NDP MPP calls bonuses, high salaries ‘indefensible’
In a sneak peek at the Sunshine List that will come out this time next year, corporate filings reveal Ontario Power Generation (OPG) chief executive Jeff Lyash will see his compensation jump to more than $1.53 million.
That’s up from $1.16 million on the 2016 public-sector salary disclosure list of $100,000-plus earners released a few days ago.
Securities filings show Lyash’s base salary will hold steady at $775,000 for 2017, but his incentive pay, stemming from 2016, will rise to $755,459 from $352,564 the previous year.
Progressive Conservative MPP Todd Smith flagged the increase Wednesday, charging it was “suspi- ciously left off the government’s books.”
But Treasury Board president Liz Sandals said the Sunshine List disclosure follows rules established when the former PC government of Mike Harris set up the list two decades ago to shed light on publicsector salaries.
“What is reported is what is actually paid in a calendar year,” she told reporters.
She noted that the legal requirement is to post the amount on a public servant’s T4 income-tax slip.
Incentives are based on performance measures from the prior year, so the Sunshine List for 2016 reports salary for that year and incentive pay based on the previous year’s performance, Sandals said. “Nothing is going unaccounted for.” Lyash is now in charge of shepherding the massive $12.8-billion refurbishment of the Darlington nu- clear power plant, which the government is pressuring him to deliver on time and on budget.
The Sunshine List data on his compensation did not include more detailed elements from the OPG statement of executive compensation, also made public last Friday.
This includes $460,000 in pension value and $38,138 in other income.
The securities filing lists total com- pensation for Lyash at $2.03 million.
“These high salaries, bonuses and pension perks are indefensible,” said New Democrat MPP Catherine Fife.
Energy Minister Glenn Thibeault said Lyash has earned every penny, particularly as it relates to the Darlington refurbishment.
“Right now, we’re ahead of schedule and below budget.
“That’s thanks to the expertise that he has, that he’s brought from his other jobs in the U.S.,” Thibeault added.
“We still recognize that these salaries are high . . . but we are also acknowledging that these people come with some expertise that is very, very important for us to recognize and retain.”
Salaries for executives in the electricity sector are dwarfed by costs in the system and account for “not even a cent” on hydro bills, Thibeault said.
He and Sandals accused the Con- servatives of trying to divert attention from their lack of a plan to cut hydro rates, given that the Liberal government has promised to cut rates 25 per cent starting this summer.
That includes waiving the 8-percent provincial portion of the HST, which took effect in January.
PC Leader Patrick Brown said Monday that his party’s plan is now on the back burner, but will be released before the June 2018 election. Brown and NDP Leader Andrea Horwath have been critical of the government’s hydro-rate-cut plan.
The plan will cost $25 billion in interest payments over the next 30 years, as recent costs of modernizing the electricity system are spread over a longer time.
“We still recognize that these salaries are high . . . but we are also acknowledging that these people come with some expertise that is very, very important for us to recognize.” GLENN THIBEAULT ENERGY MINISTER