Job well done, government! Pay more people to quit!
Nothing quite like a review of outrageous compensation and salary packages within the BC government during an economic downturn. Take it away, Vancouver Sun:
Government figures released Monday show six of British Columbia’s top public-sector executives made more than half a million dollars last year.
…
Minister of Advanced Education and Labour Market Development Moira Stilwell said the top salaries are justified to ensure the province’s vital organizations are run by the best people. “When you look at the top 10, those are all senior public sector executives that are leading huge complex organizations with hundreds of employees who are delivering important services that British Columbians depend on every day,” she said.
Uh huh, and the premier earns $186,000 a year. Perhaps being the premier is slightly more important?
This is as close to the disclosure that you will see for public sector employees, unlike Ontario. Let’s take a look at that top earner:
Topping the list was Don Cozzetto, former president of the University of Northern British Columbia whose $554,000 severance package — including moving expenses, vacation payout and other related payments — pushed him to $647,025.52. Cozzetto left the university last summer after an apparent disagreement about funding.
Apparently not about any of his funding. The man held the position since October of 2006. Two years! Take a look at some of the budget problems they were experiencing:
In the case of UNBC, it had initially been told it could expect $43.1 million for 2008-09. The government has now said the northern school will only receive $42.8 million. In 2007-08 the school received $41.3 million.
So if you read that the right way, the university got an extra $1.5 million from the previous year, yet they were still getting a budget “cut.” A 3.6% increase in the budget and he had a dispute with the government? Meanwhile, Cozzetto managed to lay off fifty employees in his short time there to make up a budget shortfall of $2 million. How much does his compensation package reduce any gains he might have made in budget balancing? Who else might face the axe?
The one problem is we also don’t have enough transparency with these institutions to see what kind of budgetary shortfall or performance the agencies are getting. BC Hydro gets a pass because my electricity is always on, but other than that, is the health care on Vancouver Island getting better? Are uni kids earning more after they graduate? A little deeper digging by the Sun might be a bigger help, and make for a far more in-depth article. Large salaries do attract capable people, and even government isn’t totally immune from market forces. We just want to make sure that they’re earning our money.
June 30th, 2009 at 4:33 pm
“Minister of Advanced Education and Labour Market Development Moira Stilwell said the top salaries are justified to ensure the province’s vital organizations are run by the best people.”
If I hear this bullshit about “the best and brightest” hired for government funded positions ever again, I may lose lunch!
The people who run the government’s many corporations and institutions are most definitely NOT “the brightest” or “the best”! They are politically savvy,well-connected second or third raters who know how to cultivate a patron saint.
The best and brightest, like, for instance Michael Eisner, former Disney CEO,spend more on shoe shines every year than these supposed “B&B” in government service earn, and they do it in the private sector, where performance is everything.
Modestly talented people learn to suck up to political heavyweights, and end up with these positions because they know whose member needs servicing, not because they have any particular aptitude for the job.
Notice that whenever the government announces the hiring of a new “B&B” for a struggling department or corporation, there is never any turnaround of said corp., and the appointee usually leaves early, with a nice golden handshake.
There are no Lee Iacoccas in government service.
I would love to see the day a government announced an appointment to another crown corp. position with ” the man has no particular knowledge of this position, he was just an old friend of the right people”.
It’s only taxpayer’s money, take as much as you need.
June 30th, 2009 at 4:56 pm
Hear hear!!
Wait a second, I’m The Mayor, for God’s sake.
I think what dmorris meant to say was MOST public service workers…
June 30th, 2009 at 10:08 pm
I think dmorris was implying that the Mayor is best assessed as a “C & C”.
Cheers