Sunshine list features more than 1,000 Sudburians

More than 1,000 public-sector employees who serve the Greater Sudbury area earned more than $100,000 in 2011.

That includes more than 700 employees in the education sector, more than 200 employed by the City of Greater Sudbury and roughly 175 in the health sector.

Their salaries were released under the Public Sector Salary Disclosure Act, known colloquially as the sunshine list.

The act requires organizations that receive public funding from the province to disclose annually the names, positions, salaries and total taxable benefits of employees paid $100,000 or more in a calendar year.

The list is normally released March 31, but the provincial government decided to release it a week early this year.

Some of the top earners in the province are Ontario Power Generation's Tom Mitchell, who pulled in $1.8 million, and Hydro One's Laura Formusa, who earned $962,000.

Dr. Francisco Diaz-Mitoma, who began his role as the vice-president of research and a microbiologist at Health Sciences North in January 2011, topped Greater Sudbury's public sector salaries last year, at $392,259.

Diaz-Mitoma's salary is closely followed by that of Dr. Chris Bourdon, the hospital's vice-president of medical and academic affairs and chief of staff, who earned $372,259.

Bourdon's salary went up significantly between 2010 and 2011. In 2010, he earned $299,999.

Hospital spokesperson Dan Lessard explained that Diaz-Mitoma and Bourdon's salaries are higher because they have multiple roles at the organization.

He said Bourdon received a raise in 2011 because he was hired permanently as the vice-president of medical and academic affairs and chief of staff, whereas he had filled those roles on an interim basis in 2010.

Health Sciences North president and CEO Dr. Denis Roy brought in a salary of $337,144 in 2011, and senior vice-president Joe Pilon earned $208,323.

Almost 140 Health Sciences North employees earned more than $100,000 last year.

Northern Ontario School of Medicine (NOSM) dean Dr. Roger Strasser's $358,585 salary was also close to the top of the list for the city. Twenty-nine NOSM staff earned more than $100,000.

The leaders of several other local health organizations also had high salaries. 

Sudbury and District Health Unit medical officer of health Dr. Penny Sutcliffe earned $297,079, while North East Local Health Integration Network (North East LHIN) CEO Louise Paquette earned $250,000, and North East Community Care Access Network (North East CCAC) CEO Richard Joly earned $248,142.

Six staff at the Sudbury and District Health Unit earned more than $100,000, 18 at the North East LHIN and 13 at the North East CCAC.

In terms of educational institutions, Laurentian University president Dominic Giroux earned $301,155, while Cambrian College president Sylvia Barnard earned $250,484 and College Boreal president Denis Hubert-Dutrisac brought in $244,396.

More than 300 Laurentian employees earned more than $100,000, 94 at Cambrian College, and 48 at College Boreal.

Thirty-seven Sudbury Catholic District School Board employees earned more than $100,000 in 2011, 96 at the Rainbow District School Board, 73 at the Conseil scolaire catholique du Nouvel-Ontario and 25 at Conseil scolaire du district du Grand Nord de l'Ontario.

Sudbury Catholic District School Board director of education Catherine McCullough earned $192,284, Rainbow District School Board director of education Norm Blaseg earned $185,227, Conseil scolaire catholique du Nouvel-Ontario director of education Lyse-Anne Papineau earned $183,021, and Conseil scolaire du district du Grand Nord de l'Ontario director of education Pierre Riopel earned $155,202.

The City of Greater Sudbury's top-paid employee was chief administrative officer Doug Nadarozny, who earned $213,196.

Nadarozny's salary was closely followed by that of Greater Sudbury Police Chief Frank Elsner, who earned $211,480. Retired Greater Sudbury Fire Services Chief Marc Leduc earned $172,923, while current chief Dan Stack earned $138,475.

More than 80 of the more than 200 City of Greater Sudbury employees on the sunshine list are Greater Sudbury Fire Services employees.

A press release put out by the Sudbury Professional Fire Fighters Association explained that a disproportionate number of firefighters appear on the list this year because they received a retroactive payment under their collective agreement.

“The figures published are not consistent with a normalized annual salary,” the press release said.

“The Sudbury Professional Fire Fighters Association does not apologize for the level of compensation our members receive. The hazardous nature of the work performed, the knowledge required to efficiently deliver a professional level of service in a variety of disciplines, and a competitive standard to other municipalities both in fire service, as well as other emergency services, are all factors that are taken into account in the compensation package.

“It is our belief that the citizens of the City of Greater Sudbury are receiving value for dollar for the services our members provide.”

There were also six employees from the Children's Aid Societies of the Districts of Sudbury and Manitoulin on the sunshine list, including executive director Colette Prevost, who earned $130,115 in 2011.

Posted by Arron Pickard