Sunshine: wages rising faster than inflation

When the so-called Sunshine List of jobs funded by the taxpayer was first unveiled in 1996, there were about a dozen locals on it.

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They included a few doctors at the hospitals, the top two city administrators and the directors of the school boards.

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Almost 30 years later, there are more than 2,600 people from this area on the list and it keeps growing: teachers, firefighters, police officers, doctors, judges and managers of all sorts,

As many point out, the threshold for appearing on the list hasn’t changed in 27 years.

With inflation, the bar would be set around $175,000 today.

But the wages have increased well beyond the level of inflation.

Where about a dozen were on the list in 1996, if the record began at $175,000, there would have been 75-80 locals on the list for 2023.

MPP Will Bouma, who is on the list at $132,867, doesn’t support the idea the Sunshine List should be revamped to raise the threshold. Instead he advocates for an expansion of information.

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“It has been, and continues to be, my long-standing belief that everyone that is being paid by the Ontario taxpayer should have their compensation package publicly disclosed, regardless of the amount.”

Looking at the positions of those earning more than $175,000, the city and the Brant Community Healthcare System saw the highest numbers with 20 and 14 names on the list respectively, including police inspectors and staff sergeants, an IT director, and five nurses.

The school boards each have several people paid more than $175,000.

All area judges are on the list, each with salaries posted of $356,020. The Ontario Court lost Justice Aubrey Hilliard last year to the Superior Court, which doesn’t have to report to the Sunshine List since it is federal, not provincial.

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Brant’s Crown Attorney, Brett Moodie, earned $216,114 last year and some fresh faces were added to the group of assistant Crown attorneys whose earnings are dependent on the number of hours they put in. At least six of them surpassed the $175,000 mark.

The area justices of the peace were under that point, being paid $171,421.

Most area non-profit organizations each have one or two people on the $100,000 list but don’t include anyone going over the $175,000 threshold.

That includes the Alzheimer Society, Boys and Girls Club, Brantwood Residential Development Centre, Community Living Brant, the area Canadian Mental Health Association, Lansdowne Children’s Centre, St. Leonard’s, and Willowbridge Community Services.

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The YMCA now covers Hamilton, Burlington and Brantford and has 10 people on the $100,000 list with three of them surpassing salaries of $175,000. including the president, Manuel Figueiredo, who took home $260,000.

The area children’s aid society, now Child and Family Services of Grand Erie, has 55 people on the Sunshine List, including directors, service managers, lawyers and child protection workers.

But there’s only one person topping the $175,000 point: executive director Sally Johnson, who took over management of both the former entities, earned $198,274.

Who is not on the list?

All organizations getting provincial tax dollars, but who aren’t paying anyone more than $100,000 don’t have to provide details for the Sunshine List.

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Any group that doesn’t get a substantial amount of its funding from government sources (around 10 per cent or less) doesn’t have to report such salaries and most groups getting less than $120,000 a year don’t have to report.

There are other groups with employees on the Sunshine List but they are difficult to pinpoint.

Some, like the Ontario Provincial Police, cooperate in assisting to nail down the number of people locally who are on the list since they aren’t disclosed by region.

Other organizations, such as the Grand River Conservation Authority, probation services or Laurier University, have employees based in Brantford and Brant, but they aren’t listed in such a way they can be separated from those who work elsewhere in the province.

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@EXPSGamble

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