Ontario Power Generation executives dominate 2018 Sunshine List top 10

The Ontario government has released its annual Sunshine List, naming all public sector employees who made $100,000 or more in the previous year.

Topping the listfor the third year in a rowwas the CEO of Ontario Power Generation (OPG),Jeffrey Lyash.

• Search the 2018 Ontario Sunshine Listhere

Lyash made$1,746,824.96 in 2018 a$192,368 boost from the year before. He is set to leave his job at OPG later this week for a positionwith a U.S. utility.

Lyashmadeover $757,000 more than the second-highest earner, Daren Smith, who is presidentof a corporation that manages investments for the University of Toronto.

Four of the top 10 earners on the Sunshine List worked for OPG, whilethreewere hospital CEOs.The top 10 also included CEOs of theOntarioPension Board andLottery and Gaming Corporation.

No women, people of colourin top 10

There are no women or people of colouramong the top 10 earners. The highest-earning womanappears to beMaureenJensen, chair and CEO of the Ontario Securities Commission. She comes 12th on the list, making$709,161.85.

Toronto Mayor John Tory made$192,488 last year, while police ChiefMark Saunders made $344,397.98.

Premier Doug Ford, who became premier inJune, made $112,770 in 2018. Dean French, Ford's chief of staff,made $153,156.

More than 151,000 on list

There are 151,197 names on the 2018 Sunshine List, up more than 19,000 fromthe 2017 list.It largely reflects salaries under the previous Librealgovernment.

The PCsattributed much of theincreaseto the "broader public sector" which includes hospitals, universities, colleges, and school boardssayingthere were17,792 additionalpeople making six figures in 2018.

Treasury board president Peter Bethlenfalvyunderscored healthcare as having"a lot of expansion" among those earning$100,000 dollars or more. He said the government isreviewing compensation in the public sector,notingthat the PCsfroze somehiring and executive compensation after taking power.

Ford has made high-earning appointments

Doug Ford's government has been under fire for appointing a series of people with connections to the PC party or the premier, includingIan ToddandRueben Devlinboth of whom make around $350,000 a year.

NDP leader Andrea Horwath, who was paid $171,037 last year, called out the government for its patronage appointments on Wednesday. Shesaid people should "hold [their] breaths" for next year's Sunshine List.

"What we've seen is ... Mr. Ford, who likes to talk about fiscal responsibility, actually jack up the pay of a lot of his friends thathe's appointing to these positions," saidHorwath.

Bethlenfalvysaid the government is focused on taxpayers getting "real good value for money."

"We're modernizing and transforming the way we do government," he said when asked about the number of highly paid advisers added to the public payroll.

Government 'taking a look at everything'

When questioned about theSunshine List's highest salaries,Bethlenfalvysaid Wednesday they are"taking a look at everything."

"We're going to continue to look at every piece of compensation because ... 52 per cent of all government expenditures are compensation," he said. "We want to make sure people get value for that money."

He would not promise to shrink the Sunshine List next year.

When last year's Sunshine List was released,Ford then leader of the opposition called it"the list of Ontario's richest political insiders," and condemned the "reckless spending policies" of the Liberal government.

Benefits not included on the list

All agencies that receive public fundingmust disclose the names, positions and salaries of each employee paid $100,000 or more in a calendar year.

According to provincial legislation, the disclosure requirement applies tomunicipalities, school boards, public health boards,hospitals, universities, and colleges, in addition to the Ontario public service.

The $100,000 salary threshold for disclosure has not changed since 1996, when the legislation came into effect. Ithas not been adjusted to keep up with inflation.

You can search the Sunshine List for yourself below.