The public sector’s top money makers: Ontario’s ‘sunshine list’ released

There are two public sector employees making over a million dollars a year in Ontario, the so-called Sunshine List revealed Thursday.

David Johnston, now Canada’s new governor general, was paid $1,056,813 in salary and bonus last year as president and vice-chancellor of the University of Waterloo. The other million went to Ontario Power Generation President and CEO Tom Mitchell, who was paid $1,335,000 in 2010.

The disclosure doesn’t come without controversy. Premier Dalton McGuinty is rejecting growing calls to raise the $100,000 minimum it takes to make the list.

The list, which began in 1995, grew by 10,000 in 2010 to sit at nearly 64,000 people.

McGuinty says he won’t be the one to make any changes. He says Tuesday’s provincial budget called for a 10 per cent cut for executive offices in government ministries.

The province’s energy sector usually boasts the highest earners on the list. Ontario Power Generation says 7,786 of its 12,500 workers made the list last year.

About 1.2 million people are employed in Ontario’s public sector.

With files from The Canadian Press

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