The provincial government is continuing to pay its public sector executives too much money, when compared to similar positions in the private sector, says a Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) spokesman.
"The provincial government needs to stand up and roll back some of these wages and bring these people back in line with the private sector," said CTF's B.C. director Jordan Bateman.
Bateman said it's part of a larger problem with public sector pay in general. He argued that executives oversee larger budgets, inflated by higher wages, and therefore receive higher salaries themselves.
"The higher the ceiling the more people are going to rush up to it," Bateman said.
Bateman had no studies comparing pay for private and public sector executives but he pointed to a Fraser Institute study that estimates government employees enjoy a premium of up to 38 per cent more than private sector employees once pensions and other benefits are added onto wages.
And he noted a recent Vancouver Sun investigation found the number of public sector employees earning more than $100,000 annually jumped 22 per cent over two years.
"We want people to be compensated and we want to attract good people to the public sector and that used to be done by a slightly less competitive wage but very competitive pensions and stability of jobs and that sort of thing," Bateman said.
"Now that's all gone. It's just get as much as you can squeeze the taxpayer for every penny."
According to reports posted this week on the provincial government's website, Northern Health chief executive officer Catherine Ulrich was paid $361,950 in salary, pension and other compensation, which University of Northern British Columbia president George Iwama took home $320,116 and College of New Caledonia president John Bowman received $196,516.
Provided each year, the disclosures apply to chief executive officers for health authorities, universities, colleges and Crown corporations and the next four highest-paid executives, where these positions hold an annual base salary of $125,000 or more.
Prince George-Mackenzie MLA Pat Bell emphasized that it's the fourth year the disclosures have been made public saying it demonstrates the Liberal government's commitment to transparency and he counted Bateman's claim public sector executives are being paid too much.
"I think that would be a stretch," Bell said. "If you look at major corporations that are billion-dollar companies which many ministries are, billion-dollar ministries, often their CEOs are paid many millions of dollars and with notable exception of [BC Ferries CEO] Mr. Hahn, there's no one in that category at the public service level."
BC Ferries CEO David Hahn makes $1.2 million in salary and benefits and will receive a $315,000 a year pension upon retirement in 2013.
