Roumeliotis tops region’s Sunshine List

TORONTO – The Ontario government’s annual look at public servants earning $100,000 per year or more, known as the Sunshine List, grew by 12.6 per cent in 2023.nnThe list – which reports all provincial government employees, crown agencies and corporations, school boards, and municipal employees – topped the 300,000 mark for the first time in the 28 year history of the list. In 2023, 300,569 people were named on the Sunshine List.nnThe double digit increase is largely due to inflationary wage increases in 2023, many of which exceeded five per cent. A number of labour agreements with unions negotiated higher wage increases.nnThat number may be adjusted even higher due to retroactive pay increases in the aftermath of the province rescinding Bill 124, which restricted the wage increases of many public sector employees to one per cent per year.nnFor the ninth year in a row, Eastern Ontario Health Unit Medical Officer of Health Dr. Paul Roumeliotis was the top executive in the region, earning $361,742 plus benefits last year. The EOHU saw an overall drop in Sunshine List reporting of 33.3 per cent as the health unit returns to its traditional programs from its COVID-19 vaccination response. This year 20 employees, including Roumeliotis, were named to the list. The remaining 19 employees earned between $101K and $163K.nnKeeping with the health care sector, Cornwall Community Hospital saw a 64.7 per cent increase employees reported on the Sunshine List. In all, there were 280 employees on the list, more than half of whom are nurses. Hospital CEO Jeanette Despatie was the top earner at $352K plus benefits. Salaries ranged from $101K to $253K.nnWinchester District Memorial Hospital CEO Cholly Boland was that institution’s top wage earner for 2023. He earned $304K plus benefits last year. The number of employees reported on the list increased by 24 per cent with 31 of the 47 employees being nurses, the remainder being management. Salaries ranged from $100K to $193K.nnRegional SunshinennDue to a number of changes in municipal government positions, including three of the six lower-tier municipalities in SDG Counties changing chief administrative officers, there was little growth in the number of municipal employees reported on the Sunshine List in 2023.nnIn South Dundas, Manager of Water and Wastewater Denis Villeneuve was the top municipal employee, earning $110,290 plus benefits. Director of Parks, Recreation, and Facilities David Jansen was the second highest listed employee, earning $110,001 plus benefits. New to the Sunshine List this year is Chief Building Official Andrew Turner, who earned $102,713 plus benefits.nnNorth Dundas saw a 20 per cent reduction in employees on the Sunshine List in 2023. CAO Angela Rutley was the top paid person on the list, earning $154,708 plus benefits. Director of Development Services Calvin Pol earned $119,947, Director of Recreation and Culture Meaghan Meerburg earned $107,753, and Director of Transportation Jamie Cheney earned $101,032 – all plus benefits.nnSouth Stormont’s Sunshine Listees increased by one to eight people in 2023. CAO Debi Lucas was the top earner at that township, and the highest-paid CAO in the lower tier at $162,688 plus benefits.nnNorth Stormont had three people named to the list, with Public Works Superintendent Blake Henderson earning $126,362 plus benefits.nnNorth Glengarry CAO Sarah Huskinson led that municipality’s list of six employees on the list, earning $155,394 plus benefits.nnSouth Glengarry doubled the number of employees reporting on the Sunshine List from four to eight in 2023. General Manager of Planning, Building and Enforcement Joanne Haley was the highest paid employee in South Glengarry at $124,084 plus benefits in 2023.nnSDG Counties staff reported on the Sunshine List increased by 37.5 per cent in 2023, growing from eight to 11 employees. CAO Maureen Adams led the list earning $ 194,550 plus benefits. Director of Transportation Ben deHaan, who is currently seconded to North Dundas as acting-CAO was second on the list, earning $ 162,344 plus benefits.nnThe City of Cornwall saw its list grow by 17.3 per cent in a year. Seventy of its 210 employees are members of its municipal police force, 53 are on the city’s fire department, and 43 are with the Cornwall/SDG Paramedic Service. City general manager Geoffrey Clarke was the top paid employee within City Administration in 2023, earning $181,428 plus benefits.nnSunshine on educationnnLocal English-language school boards saw small decreases in the number of employees reported to the Sunshine List.nnThe Upper Canada District School Board reported 1,060 employees on the Sunshine List, a decrease of 2.2 per cent from 2022. The highest paid employee was Director of Education Ron Ferguson ($345K plus benefits). Not only is Ferguson the highest paid employee of the UCDSB, he is also the highest paid Director of Education in Ontario and received a 50 per cent pay raise over 2022.nnA total of 32 non-teaching or school positions, namely superintendents and department managers with a salary range of $100K-$277K were on the list. The UCDSB had 93 Principals ($114K-$209K), 48 Vice Principals ($101K to $136K) and 887 Teachers ($100K-$120K) reported on the list.nnThe Catholic District School Board of Eastern Ontario reported 535 employees on the Sunshine List for 2023, a 9.5 per cent decrease over the previous year. The highest paid employee was Director of Education Laurie Corrigan ($272,454 plus benefits). The board had 31 non-teaching or school-based positions, namely superintendents and managers with a salary range between $102K and $193K. Sixteen of those 31 non-teaching positions were classified as “Consultants”. The CDSBEO listed 43 Principals ($115K to $137K), 22 Vice Principals ($102K to $118K) and 439 Teachers ($100K to $121K).nnConseil Scolaire De District Catholique De L’est Ontarien (French-Catholic) reported 538 people on the list, a 0.6 per cent decrease from 2022. This past year the board reported 30 principals on the list (earning $118K to $139K), 18 vice principals (earning $109K to $132K), and 434 teachers (earning $109K to $132K). Director of Education Lyne Racine was the highest-paid employee at $275K plus benefits. Fifty-five non-teaching employees were on the list including six superintendents, and 12 department directors earning between $100K and $239K plus benefits.nnThe outlier in local school board reporting was the Conseil Des Écoles Publiques De L’est De L’ontario (French-Public). That board reported a 6.2 per cent increase in employees reported on the Sunshine List, totalling 604 employees. This included 44 principals earning between $120K and $166K, 43 vice principals earning between $107K and $132K, and 419 teachers earning between $100 and $148K. Eighty-four employees in non-teaching roles were on the list for the CEPEO, including Director of Education Christian-Charle Bouchard ($202K plus benefits.)nnSunshine for TourismnnLocal provincial crown agency, the St. Lawrence Parks Commission, saw a 10 per cent increase in employees reported on the Sunshine list. CEO and General Manager Hollee Kew earned $189K plus benefits in 2023. In all 11 employees from the crown agency was on the list, earning between $100 and $145KnnProvincial officials on the listnnStormont-Dundas-South Glengarry Member of Provincial Parliament Nolan Quinn arrived on the Sunshine List in 2023 having served one full calendar year in the legislature. He earned $133,217 plus benefits serving as both local MPP and Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Children, Community, and Social Services. Ontario Premier Doug Ford earned $208,974 in 2023. Pay increases for elected officials at Queen’s Park have been frozen since 2008 – the last year the province posted a balanced budget.nnTop earners in OntarionnThe top-five employees on the Sunshine List are employed by Ontario Power Generation. President and CEO Kenneth Hartwick earned $1.93M, up $200K from 2022.nThe Sunshine List was enacted through legislation passed by then-premier Mike Harris in 1995. The goal was to publicize the salary and benefits of public service employees who earn over $100,000 per year.nnIn 1996, the first reporting year, 4,250 employees made the list with over $526.5 million in salary.nnThe government has never adjusted its $100,000 benchmark against the rate of inflation or by any other means. According to the Bank of Canada, $100,000 in 1996 is equal to $180,249.72 in 2024, an increase of 80.25 per cent. In comparison, according to the BoC, a $100,000 salary in 2024 is equal to that of $55,478.59 in 1996.