Fiscal restraint at the Ontario Power Generation

Published: April 6th, 2015

The publication of Ontario's 2015 sunshine list placed the Ontario Power Generation's Thomas Mitchell at top spot with over 1.5 million dollars in total earnings. This set a lot of tongues wagging however the uproar actually hid the OPG's fiscally responsible expenditure for its elite employees this year.

Overall the OPG alotted 67 million dollars less to its sunshine list elite - a drop of almost 6 percent. It did this by reducing the number of sunshine list staff by 290 people. The staff remaining from the previous year received a 1.89 percent pay cut on average.

In fact, Thomas Mitchell himself took a 9.22 percent pay cut from the previous year - something the top 25 earners on the sunshine list cannot claim.

Unfortunately the media seems to have missed the real story of the OPG reducing spending on its topmost earners by focusing on the outlier sitting atop the list.

Salary Changes at the Ontario Power Generation
Year	Employer	Disclosures	Total	Change	Change (%)	Internal Change	Internal Change (%)
2015	Ontario Power Generation	7668	$1,066,097,578.63	-$67,024,555.08	-5.92	-$19,344,108.24	-1.89
2014	Ontario Power Generation	7958	$1,133,122,133.71	$23,781,285.86	2.14	$36,716,847.46	3.63
2013	Ontario Power Generation	7960	$1,109,340,847.85	$21,473,462.75	1.97	$17,488,438.06	1.74
2012	Ontario Power Generation	7848	$1,087,867,385.10	$15,667,093.48	1.46	$17,817,421.61	1.83
2011	Ontario Power Generation	7783	$1,072,200,291.62	-$13,562,371.25	-1.25	$5,718,413.32	0.93
2010	Ontario Power Generation	7893	$1,085,762,662.87	$142,087,469.85	15.06	$26,429,495.12	5.19
2009	Ontario Power Generation	6950	$943,675,193.02	$83,257,843.17	9.68	$18,981,538.37	3.84
2008	Ontario Power Generation	6424	$860,417,349.85	$138,546,982.90	19.19	$35,232,531.04	5.69
2007	Ontario Power Generation	5491	$721,870,366.95	$90,059,900.83	14.25	$27,860,338.93	5.53
2006	Ontario Power Generation	4923	$631,810,466.12	$49,767,478.33	8.55	$4,190,762.37	1.11