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Finance criticblasts report ontop-earning execs

The'top 15 earners in the agencies,

boards and commissions that have

so far reported. The numbers includewages, benefits and other payments.

.1, ...,...1,, .'' BradKlak,presidentand managing director, AgricultureFinancial Services CorP.

".: .'- .: : ' Richard Masson,

CE0, Alberta iPetroleum MarketingCommission

' -': ,. I ,. ' . ' . ,Jim Ellis, president

and CE0, Alberta Energy Regulator

., : t,' ,' .

, ..Xirf galtey,

executive VP operations,Alberta Energy Regulator

.',..':r. i ;.,':.i )i-,.,, l Harpal Brar,

executive director business

developrirent, Alberta Petroleum

Marketing Commission

::, I .',.,:'.. :'.1JenniferSteber,

executive VP stakeholder andgovernment relations,Alberta Energy Regulator

',."-: .i ,'.. ..-. .; Patricia Johnston,executive VP and general counsel,

Alberta Energy Regulator

rayhave been granted an extensionuntil Sept. 3O due to the wildfireevacuation in May.

Ceci said a framework is beingdeveloped under the Agencies,Boards and Commissions Com-pensation Act to deal with thegrowing discrepancY in how ex-ecutives are paid. The act allowsgovernment to set or limit com-pensation by establishing salarYranges and policies around ben-

69 agencies have provided data on websiteSUNSHINE FROM AI

This is the first time agencies,boards and commissions havb beenincluded on the expanded "sun-shinelist," a step Ontario andBrit-ish Columbia have alreadY taken.

The Alberta government alsodiscloses the names of govern-ment employees who make morethan $1O0gO0 aYear. In 2015,3,556names were on that list.

As of Thursday afternoon, 69agencies, boards and commissionshad provided the information tothe government's website withlinks to their own websites, includ-ing the Alberta EnergY Regulator,Alberta Innovates, Travel Albertaand the Agriculture Financial Ser-vices Corp. The deadline for disclo-sure is June 30.

Fildebrandt commended thegovernment for releasing the ex-panded list, but said imProvementsare needed to make the data setsmore user-friendly and to helPAlbertans distinguish what eachagency and employee is resPonsi-ble for so theyknowhowtaxPaYerdollars are being spent.

"The previous government usedto put all sorts offolks in patronagepositions onthe payroll and itwasoften very difficult to find that out "Fildebrandt said.

The University of Albert4 theUniversity of CalgarY and theUniversity of Lethbridge will alsobe disclosing the salaries ofPro-fessors. Doctors are not includbdin the latest list because of theircomplex compensation structure.More work has to be done beforethose figures are disclosed, a gov-ernment spokeswoman said.

Keyano College and AlbertaHealth Services in Fort McMur-

tr i i!:r:rt_:1::raa

..i. rj _1 ,-_1 .'_:-: ! -_i

.::' J, 1r]. 'i.-.:..l Rick Brown,

executive VP corporate services,Alberta Energy Regulator

;,.':, ; ;,, .. : t" Karen Adams,president and CE0, Alberta Pensions

Services Corp.

.: , l .- r .-.:'r-i r. Andrew Neuner,

CE0, Health Quality Council ofAlberta

:: :';:,': .,.,..'.::l'.t; .." Cal Hill,exeCUtiveVP strategy and regulatory division,Alberta Energy Regulator

,. ,',.:-,..-. .'. ."ii Don Gnatiuk,president and CEO, Grande fra$ieRegional College

.; ..i: .';':.;,:.:.': r .,r Ryan Aucoin, seniormanager business development,Alberta Petroleum MarketingCommission

., .,,: .r..,..: 1..:.:: tr,terle JacoUson,

chief operating off icer, AgricultureFinancial Services CorP.

a: .--: r-r.:'. -r -: i' Robert Philp, chief,

Alberta Human Rights Commission

efits, bonuses and severance. Theframeworkwill initially apply to 27agencies, boards and commissions.

"What is somewhat reallyProb-Iematic is thatthe salaries of someof the people in ABCs over timestrayed away from public sectorcompensation or remuneration,so we're going to be resetting thatbar," Ceci said.o ellw an d@ p o stme dia. co m

twitter.com/otiena

for lack of clarity ,7q s,sN€.?o /,6

OTIENA ELLWAND

The six-fi gure salaries of top-earn-ing executives at more than IOOprovincial arm's-length agencies,boards and commissions are be-ing disclosed for the first time aspart of the government's new rulesto increase transparency and ac-countability, but some critlcs saythe lack of organization makes thedata difficult to read and access.

The data is scattered across sev-eral websites and presented indifferent formats, creating "sig-nificant problems with usability,"said Wildrose finance critic DerekFildebrandt.

Starting Thursday, I5O agen-cies, boards and eommissions arerequired under the Public SectorCompensation Transparency Act(legislation passed this spring) todisclose compensation informa-tion online for employees who earnmore than $125,000 a year, as wellas the wages of board members andseverance packages.

Some highlights include BradKlak, the president of the Agri-culture Financial Services CorP.,who earned $723,103 lastYear (hewas suspended last week with pay);Richard Masson, chief executiveof the Alberta Petroleum Mar-keting Commission, who earned$658,014; and Jim Ellis, Presidentand CEO of the Alberta EnergYRegulator, who earned $600,665(figures include wages, benefitsand otherpayments).

Finance Minister Joe Ceci saidThursday the public disclosure is'' a critical step government is tak-ing to make sure Albertans knowwhere their tax dollars are beingspent."SEE SUNSHINE ON ^lt4r PAULA SIMONS, A4