Between the rising cost of living and the omnipresence of monopolies in the private sector, the annual spring lesson for Ontario youth – if they choose to stay here – is to consider a career in government, proven again by Thursday’s release of the province’s Sunshine List.
The annual list logs all Ontario bureaucrats and politicians who earned more than $100,000 the previous year – a number of workers that jumped to just over 300,000 in 2023 from almost 267,000 in 2022.
On this year’s list, 13,254 Ontarians earned more than $200,000 in government salary, highlighted in Niagara by two outgoing bureaucrats: now-retired Niagara Health Chief of Staff Dr. Johan Viljoen at $587,406, and former Niagara Regional Police Chief Bryan MacCulloch at $356,231.
Locally, Town of Pelham CAO David Cribbs was the only member of the $200,000 club, but Pelham’s $100,000-plus list grew to 13 from 12 in 2022.
Town of Pelham Sunshine List, Position and 2023 Salary
David Cribbs, CAO $207,932
Teresa Quinlin-Murphy, Director of Corporate Services $161,095
Barb Wiens, Director of Planning and Development $161,095
Bob Lymburner, Fire Chief $161,073
Jennifer Stirton, Town Solicitor $154,997
Vickie vanRavenswaay, Director of Recreation, Culture & Wellness $143,224
Jason Marr, Director of Public Works $143,219
Michael Zimmer, Chief Building Official $136,472
Ryan Cook, Manager of Public Works $119,746
Michael Guglielmi, Manager of IT $119,746
Usama Seraj, Manager of Financial Services $119,356
Derek Young, Manager of Engineering $115,144
William Tigert, Interim Town Clerk $106,603
Premier Doug Ford was paid $208,974 last year, some $115,000 less than his own Chief of Staff Patrick Sackville. Niagara West MPP Sam Oosterhoff earned $133,217. Metrolinx CEO Phil Verster – who oversees GO Transit and Toronto’s years-behind-schedule Line 5 LRT project – was paid just over $839,000. For the third straight year, the highest-paid government employee was Ontario Power Generation CEO Kenneth Hartwick at $1.9 million.