The number of Halton Hills' employees making over $100,000 per year continues to grow. According to the annual Ontario Public Sector Salaries Disclosure List, more commonly known as the Sunshine List, 107 employees achieved an average compensation level of $124,229 in 2021. That's nine more than the previous year. https://www.ontario.ca/public-sector-salary-disclosure/2021/all-sectors-and-seconded-employees/
Chris Mills, the Town's Chief Administrative Officer, topped the charts with earnings of $240,349 and $1,812.40 in taxable benefits. Mayor Rick Bonnette, the top-paid Halton Hills politician sits 12th on the list earning $156,567 in salary and $10,569.55 in taxable benefits, just ahead of the Town's communications director Alexandra Fuller who made $153,545 and $1,372.09 respectively.
Former CAO A.Brent Marshall still appears near the top of the chart, placing 17th out of 107. Marshall went on administrative leave in Aug. 2020, and his employment with the Town was terminated in Aug. 2021. He received a salary of $141,921.46 in 2021 along with $936.13 in taxable benefits.
Halton Hills firefighters comprised the largest majority of the names on the list.
Halton Region had 1,288 employees making over $100K in 2021, up 10% from the previous year and about 10 times as many as Halton Hills. The Region's top earner was CAO Jane MacCaskill at $373,711. Police Chief Stephen Tanner was in fourth spot with $306,706, and Regional Chair Gary Carr was the top paid politician and was posted at number 35 with a salary of $192,790.
For the second year in a row, the top earning Ontario public sector employee in Ontario is Kenneth Hartwick, president and CEO of Hydro One, with a reported salary of $1,628,246. Another name that leaps out is that of Dr. Kieran Moore who became Ontario's Chief Medical Officer in June 2021, and became the provincial spokesperson for COVID. He made $461,022.85 in 2021. Some prominent politicians' salaries are also listed below:
Premier Doug Ford: $208,974.00; taxable benefits: $304.14
Opposition Leader Andrea Horwath of the NDP: $180,885.96; taxable benefits: $266.94
Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner: $125,874.00; taxable benefits: $193.98
Toronto Mayor John Tory: $197,316.08; taxable benefits: $1,524.20
Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie: $144,294.80; taxable benefits: $1,347.07
Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown: $146,208.13; taxable benefits: $17,315.37
Oakville Mayor Rob Burton: $187,458.86; taxable benefits: $9,071.68
Burlington Mayor Marianne Meed Ward: $187,076.96; taxable benefits: $635.04
Vaughan Mayor Maurizio Bevilacqua: $194,119.58; taxable benefits: $15,336.96
Markham Mayor Frank Scarpitti: $253,416.08; taxable benefits: $19,530.05
Whitby Mayor Don Mitchell: $188,304.48; taxable benefits: $15,572.96
Oshawa Mayor Dan Carter: $143,430.59; taxable benefits: $438.00
Halton Hills Mayor Rick Bonnette: $156,567; taxable benefits:$10,569.55
Milton Mayor Gordon Krantz: $173,507; taxable benefits: $7,137
The Ontario Sunshine List was first instituted by Premier Mike Harris in 1996, and the original intent was to create transparency and accountability, and in a sense shame the recipients. At the time, 4,494 public servants were making $100,000 and there was a perception that some public sector was bloated and some employees were overpaid.
The roll has now swelled to 244,390 people with an increase of 39,000 over 2020. However, $100,000 in 1996 would be worth $166,629 in 2022. Of course, $100K is still a lot of money, but the sunshine list has less cachet than it did 25 years ago. For most government employees, reaching the sunshine threshold is a proud achievement without any negative stigma.
From another perspective, the sunshine list is one of the few tools that can shine a light on how public funds are being spent. Although municipal governments can evade scrutiny by hiding under the cloak of “personnel matters,” how else could one find out that a former chief administrator is being paid to stay home, for instance?
CORRECTION: We removed part of the article on paragraph 3. The original paragraph read "Halton Hills firefighters comprised the largest majority of the names on the list. 16 of them received an average salary of $107,970. The one female on the list made $105,159, as compared to a $108,157 average for her male counterparts. Similarly, the 33 female Town employees listed averaged $119,850, as compared to the 74 males who averaged $126,182." We did not realize "The one female on the list" was actually male. Sorry for any inconvenience.
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