Fewer names on the list

By Dave Flaherty/The Oshawa Express

With the return of spring weather also means the return of the province’s Sunshine List.

The Public Sector Salary Disclosure, known colloquially as the Sunshine List, details the names, positions, taxable income and taxable benefits of public sector employees making six-digit incomes.

There are 131,741 workers on the 2017 list, an increase from of 6.3 per cent from the previous year.

The number of Durham Region employees on the list declined 0.9 per cent from 1,297 in 2016 to 1,285 in 2017.

This marked the first decrease since 2010 and only the fifth since the Sunshine List was first published in 1996.

In all, $151,774,361 in salaries and $1,123,200 in benefits were paid out to regional employees who earned six digits last year, up slightly from 2016.

Durham College had 108 employees on the list, a drop of 50 per cent from 2016, however, a five-week strike last fall may have kept the amount lower than usual.

There were also 235 employees from UOIT, 612 at the Durham District School Board and 241 at the Durham Catholic District School Board, all increases from 2016.

Other local organizations noted on the list include 46 employees with the Durham Children’s Aid Society and three with Oshawa Public Libraries.

The provincial top earner in 2017 was Ontario Power Generation CEO Jeffrey Lyash, who was paid $1,554,456.95 in 2017.

Following are Daren Smith, president and chief investment officer of the University of Toronto Asset Management Corporation, earning $936,098.48 and Glen Jager, chief nuclear officer for the Ontario Power Generation, who earned $858,445.43

Rounding out the top five were Bruce Campbell, president and CEO of Independent Electricity System Operator at $749,862.59 and Mark Fuller, president and CEO of the Ontario Public Service Pension Board at $745,211.84.