Former Initiatives Prince George CEO Tim McEwan will have received at least $120,000 in severance and moving expenses by the time six months is up since his departure from the job last month, documents obtained through a freedom of information request are showing.
Under the terms of a departure agreement dated Jan. 27, 2012, McEwan, now the head of the provincial government's major investments office, is continuing to receive full salary and benefits for six months effective Feb. 20 and at the end of the period, IPG will pay a $15,000 bonus.
McEwan, who the provincial government named to his new post on Feb. 26, earned $170,000 per year, (plus performance bonus) according to an employment contract also obtained through the request. That suggests he'll receive a further $85,000 in salary.
McEwan was also given a $20,000 moving allowance, "recognizing that Tim McEwan and his wife moved to Prince George solely for the IPG role," the agreement states.
And McEwan received three days vacation pay left over from 2011 and prorated vacation pay for 2012 up to Feb. 17.
IPG's board of directors will be fielding questions about the arrangement at a press conference this morning, 10 a.m. at IPG offices on First Ave. Chair Glen Wonders and vice-chair Mark Feldinger did not return requests for comment Wednesday.
Mayor Shari Green said she will reserve comment on the deal until she's heard what IPG has to say.
"I've read it, I've got my thoughts but I haven't heard from IPG on the matter and I need to hear from them before I make any comment," Green said.
Green did refer to her concern that McEwan may have already had a new job lined up before he and IPG parted ways, raising a question as to whether he acted in good faith in accepting the severance.
"I have asked IPG through the chair repeatedly if they knew when they signed the document that if he had a job, did they know that, and the answer, repeatedly and emphatically, has always been no - at the time they signed they did not know he had a new job," Green said.
If it turned out the offer from the provincial government was made before the departure agreement was signed, "we have a problem," Green said. "If it was after, that's life."
The departure agreement also states notification of departure will be made on Jan. 30 - The Citizen ran a story on McEwan leaving on that date - while his departure date for "public and stakeholder information" will be set for Feb. 17 - the next day being the fourth anniversary of McEwan's employment with-IPG.
Had McEwan remained at IPG, his salary would have been renegotiated by the end of this May according to the employment contract.
According to the employment contract, IPG may give McEwan up to six months notice of its intention to terminate the contract or six months pay in lieu. Exactly why McEwan and IPG parted ways has never been made public.
McEwan was also entitled to a year-end bonus based on meeting budgets and strategic objectives as approved by the IPG board and "maintaining and strengthening" relationships with key stakeholders, including staff and IPG's "shareholder" - which would be the city.
The bonus McEwan was eligible for was blacked out in the document obtained under a section of provincial freedom of information and protection of privacy legislation regarding disclosures deemed harmful to personal privacy.
Employment contracts for four other IPG employees were also obtained.
Interim CEO and strategic initiatives vice president Heather Oland earns $125,000 per year according to a contract dated July 27, 2011.
The employees' names in the three other contracts were blacked out, also under provincial legislation. However, they make $67,000, $57,000 and $45,000 respectively.
