Who were the biggest earners among public-sector lawyers last year?
With Ontario’s electricity sector under the microscope, Ontario Power Generation’s Christopher Ginther came out on top at almost $450,000 a year. That’s about a $3,000 increase over what his predecessor as senior vice president and general counsel, David Brennan, earned the year before.
As for what’s new on the sunshine list, it was the first year the Woodbine Entertainment Group became subject to the annual salary disclosure of public-sector employees earning more than $100,000 a year. The company’s general counsel, William Ford, earned big with a salary of almost $332,000. He was fourth on our list of lawyers earning more than $100,000.
Other notable aspects of the newly released list of salaries for 2013 include the fact the Ministry of the Attorney General showed some restraint with the number of employees earning more than $100,000 remainingfairly constant. Last year, there were 1,704 of them. The year before, the number was 1,702. But at Legal Aid Ontario, several new employees crossed the threshold. There was 130 of them on the list of salary disclosures for 2013, up from 92 the year before. But LAO did show plenty of restraint in executive salaries. Most of them remained the same as the year before. LAO president Bob Ward, for example, earned $270,000 both years with his taxable benefits having increased by about $2,000.
In the courts, Ontario Court Chief Justice Annemarie Bonkalo’s salary for 2013 was $304,676.74. As for Ontario Court judges, most earned $271,420.72, up from $264,832.58 the year before. Superior Court masters typically earned $192,684.44.
On this chart,
Law Times lists, in descending order by salary, the top earners from the Ministry of the Attorney General as well as law professors and other legal professionals working as counsel, general counsel, and solicitors among various municipal and provincial bodies. The list also covers the broader public sector, including hospitals.
The rest of the Ministry of Finance’s salary disclosure listis available online at
fin.gov.on.ca/en/publications/salarydisclosure/pssd/.To compare with last year's
Law Times list, see
"Sunshine list shows signs of restraint among public-sector legal earners."
