Ontario CEO salary cap bill defeated in legislature

NDP bill to cap public-sector CEO salaries voted down

The NDP private member’s bill to cap Ontario’s public-sector CEO salaries was voted down by a margin of 18-39.

The bill, introduced by NDP leader Andrea Horwath, would have capped public-sector CEO salaries at $418,000 — with some exceptions for CEOs in highly specialized fields.

That number is twice the premier’s annual salary of $209,000 per year.

“If the person charged with leading the government of this province can get by on $209,000 a year, then public sector executives should be able to get by with a paycheque twice as big,” said Horwath in a Canadian Press report. “You've got to start at the top and rein in these compensation packages that just keep spiraling out of control.”

But the Liberals and Progressive Conservatives opposed the bill, although Premier Wynne has agreed in the past to address public sector compensation in some way.

The bill would have applied to all executives in the public sector including hydro, hospitals and universities.

But some critics of the bill, including PC finance critic Vic Fedeli, said the bill only would have affected about 100 people and a small amount of money.

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