By Shylo Adams
Ontario Finance Minister Dwight Duncan announced compensation caps and pay freezes on Public Sector execs and managers. PHOTO BY SHYLO ADAMS
Ontario Finance Minister Dwight Duncan announced Thursday that the provincial government will propose a cap on compensation for public service executives and a two-year pay freeze for managers.
“Here in Ontario we’re working hard to eliminate the deficit,” Duncan said.
“As we work towards balancing our budget we have made a choice to freeze wages in order to protect public services and jobs.”
The government looks to place a hard cap on the salaries of executives in government agencies and the broader public sector.
This would leave executive salaries capped permanently at a maximum of $418,000 a year.
The proposal is also going to freeze the earnings of 8,800 managers in the public sector.
Managers in the Ontario Public Service, government agencies, and the broader public sectors eligible for performance-based pay incentives will see such incentives capped for the next two years.
“No one will earn more than they did last year,” said Duncan. “This means that [it’s] possible for people to earn less money, if they fail to perform.”
The proposals drew fire from organized labour.
“At the end of the day that’s not going to help the economy of the province of Ontario,” said Fred Hahn, president of CUPE Ontario.
“If they wanted to take strong, fair, and reasonable action they should be raising corporate taxes on profitable corporations, generating money, creating jobs, and doing what’s right for the province of Ontario.”
Warren Thomas, Ontario Public Service Employees Union, agrees.
“I’m a reasonable person. My union is reasonable. We’d rather sit down and bargain,” Thomas said.
Here’s Finance Minister Dwight Duncan explaining the proposal: