As inflation pressures grow, Bank of Canada execs take home millions in bonuses: CTF | Canada News Media
Connect with us

News

As inflation pressures grow, Bank of Canada execs take home millions in bonuses: CTF

Published

 on

Documents uncovered by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation show that all but two of the BoC’s 82 executives received ‘performance pay’ in 2022

Despite its governor warning business leaders not to factor soaring inflation into worker compensation, Canada’s central bank handed out millions of dollars in bonuses to nearly all of its top executives last year.

According to documents uncovered by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, all but two of the Bank of Canada’s 82 executives received some sort of “performance pay” in 2022, totalling $3.5 million.

That number does not include either the Bank of Canada’s governor or senior deputy governor.

Senior public servants in Canada earn both a base salary and “performance pay” — a two-part compensation program that offers eligible managers an opportunity to earn extra income based on performance metrics.

“The PMP (performance management program) encourages excellent performance in the senior ranks of the public service by recognizing and rewarding the achievement of results linked to business plans and government objectives and the demonstration of leadership competencies,” reads an explainer published by the Government of Canada.

Performance pay consists of “at-risk pay” — a variable amount that must be re-earned each year, and an additional bonus amount if performance goes above and beyond.

At-risk pay for agency heads or governor-in-council appointees ranges from 10.6 to 20.4 per cent, with bonuses between three and eight per cent.

Deputy ministers could earn an additional 20 to 30 per cent of at-risk pay, with bonuses between six and nine per cent, while chief executive officers of Crown corporations can earn at-risk pay bonuses of up to 33 per cent.

While 80 Bank of Canada executives received at-risk pay, 25 received the above-and-beyond bonus pay.

The average amount of compensation for each executive works out to around $43,700.

Franco Terrazzano, federal director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, said it makes little sense for central bank executives to be getting large bonuses when so many Canadians are suffering under punishing inflation and cost-of-living increases.

“Executives at the Bank of Canada shouldn’t be showering themselves with big bonuses when Canadians can’t afford gas, groceries or mortgages,” Terrazzano said.

“Most organizations don’t give 98 per cent of their executives bonuses when they have their worst year in four decades.”

Senior management at the Bank of Canada have received nearly $21 million in executive bonuses since 2015.

While speaking at an event last July hosted by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem warned attendees against triggering a wage-price spiral by using high inflation as an excuse to raise wages.

“Don’t plan on the current rate of inflation staying,” Macklem told business leaders at the event.

“Don’t build that into longer-term contracts. Don’t build that into wage contracts. It is going to take some time, but you can be confident that inflation will come down.”

In economics, a wage-price spiral is a theory that blames rising prices on an increase in disposable income brought on by increased wages.

Canada’s consumer price index rose to a 40-year high of 6.8 per cent last year — the largest increase in inflation in over 40 years.

Canada’s current monetary policy framework states the agreement between the government and the Bank of Canada sets inflation targets at “two per cent mid-point of the one to three per cent inflation-control range.”

Last April, Macklem admitted to the Senate banking committee the bank had underestimated how strong inflation would strike Canada, and promised to make things right.

Economists, reported the Financial Post last year, levelled criticism at the central bank for its surprise decision not to hike interest rates last January, with some saying the decision puts the Bank of Canada’s credibility into question.

Last month, the Bank of Canada announced it would hold key interest rates near five per cent until the third quarter of 2024 — but won’t cut them.

Over the summer, the National Post reported that Bank of Canada employees earned $72 million in pay raises since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, with $20 million in raises paid out just last year.

In a statement, the Bank of Canada reiterated its use of the performance management program, and that management who meet performance objectives are entitled to bonus pay.

“Our independent Board of Directors oversees the management and administration of the Bank, including our human resources policies,” the statement read. “Like many employers in the financial sector, we hire and retain within a highly competitive environment.”

 

Source link

Continue Reading

News

A linebacker at West Virginia State is fatally shot on the eve of a game against his old school

Published

 on

 

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A linebacker at Division II West Virginia State was fatally shot during what the university said Thursday is being investigated by police as a home invasion.

The body of Jyilek Zyiare Harrington, 21, of Charlotte, North Carolina, was found inside an apartment Wednesday night in Charleston, police Lt. Tony Hazelett said in a statement.

Hazelett said several gunshots were fired during a disturbance in a hallway and inside the apartment. The statement said Harrington had multiple gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead at the scene. Police said they had no information on a possible suspect.

West Virginia State said counselors were available to students and faculty on campus.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with Jyilek’s family as they mourn the loss of this incredible young man,” West Virginia State President Ericke S. Cage said in a letter to students and faculty.

Harrington, a senior, had eight total tackles, including a sack, in a 27-24 win at Barton College last week.

“Jyilek truly embodied what it means to be a student-athlete and was a leader not only on campus but in the community,” West Virginia State Vice President of Intercollegiate Athletics Nate Burton said. “Jyilek was a young man that, during Christmas, would create a GoFundMe to help less fortunate families.”

Burton said donations to a fund established by the athletic department in Harrington’s memory will be distributed to an organization in Charlotte to continue his charity work.

West Virginia State’s home opener against Carson-Newman, originally scheduled for Thursday night, has been rescheduled to Friday, and a private vigil involving both teams was set for Thursday night. Harrington previously attended Carson-Newman, where he made seven tackles in six games last season. He began his college career at Division II Erskine College.

“Carson-Newman joins West Virginia State in mourning the untimely passing of former student-athlete Jyilek Harrington,” Carson-Newman Vice President of Athletics Matt Pope said in a statement. “The Harrington family and the Yellow Jackets’ campus community is in our prayers. News like this is sad to hear anytime, but today it feels worse with two teams who knew him coming together to play.”

___

AP college football: and

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

Source link

Continue Reading

News

Hall of Famer Joe Schmidt, who helped Detroit Lions win 2 NFL titles, dies at 92

Published

 on

DETROIT (AP) — Joe Schmidt, the Hall of Fame linebacker who helped the Detroit Lions win NFL championships in 1953 and 1957 and later coached the team, has died. He was 92.

The Lions said family informed the team Schmidt died Wednesday. A cause of death was not provided.

One of pro football’s first great middle linebackers, Schmidt played his entire NFL career with the Lions from 1953-65. An eight-time All-Pro, he was enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1973 and the college football version in 2000.

“Joe likes to say that at one point in his career, he was 6-3, but he had tackled so many fullbacks that it drove his neck into his shoulders and now he is 6-foot,” said the late Lions owner William Clay Ford, Schmidt’s presenter at his Hall of Fame induction in 1973. “At any rate, he was listed at 6-feet and as I say was marginal for that position. There are, however, qualities that certainly scouts or anybody who is drafting a ballplayer cannot measure.”

Born in Pittsburgh, Schmidt played college football in his hometown at Pitt, beginning his stint there as a fullback and guard before coach Len Casanova switched him to linebacker.

“Pitt provided me with the opportunity to do what I’ve wanted to do, and further myself through my athletic abilities,” Schmidt said. “Everything I have stemmed from that opportunity.”

Schmidt dealt with injuries throughout his college career and was drafted by the Lions in the seventh round in 1953. As defenses evolved in that era, Schmidt’s speed, savvy and tackling ability made him a valuable part of some of the franchise’s greatest teams.

Schmidt was elected to the Pro Bowl 10 straight years from 1955-64, and after his arrival, the Lions won the last two of their three NFL titles in the 1950s.

In a 1957 playoff game at San Francisco, the Lions trailed 27-7 in the third quarter before rallying to win 31-27. That was the NFL’s largest comeback in postseason history until Buffalo rallied from a 32-point deficit to beat Houston in 1993.

“We just decided to go after them, blitz them almost every down,” Schmidt recalled. “We had nothing to lose. When you’re up against it, you let both barrels fly.”

Schmidt became an assistant coach after wrapping up his career as a player. He was Detroit’s head coach from 1967-72, going 43-35-7.

Schmidt was part of the NFL’s All-Time Team revealed in 2019 to celebrate the league’s centennial season. Of course, he’d gone into the Hall of Fame 46 years earlier.

Not bad for an undersized seventh-round draft pick.

“It was a dream of mine to play football,” Schmidt told the Detroit Free Press in 2017. “I had so many people tell me that I was too small. That I couldn’t play. I had so many negative people say negative things about me … that it makes you feel good inside. I said, ‘OK, I’ll prove it to you.’”

___

AP NFL:

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.



Source link

Continue Reading

News

Coastal GasLink fined $590K by B.C. environment office over pipeline build

Published

 on

VICTORIA – British Columbia’s Environment Assessment Office has fined Coastal GasLink Pipeline Ltd. $590,000 for “deficiencies” in the construction of its pipeline crossing the province.

The office says in a statement that 10 administrative penalties have been levied against the company for non-compliance with requirements of its environmental assessment certificate.

It says the fines come after problems with erosion and sediment control measures were identified by enforcement officers along the pipeline route across northern B.C. in April and May 2023.

The office says that the latest financial penalties reflect its escalation of enforcement due to repeated non-compliance of its requirements.

Four previous penalties have been issued for failing to control erosion and sediment valued at almost $800,000, while a fifth fine of $6,000 was handed out for providing false or misleading information.

The office says it prioritized its inspections along the 670-kilometre route by air and ground as a result of the continued concerns, leading to 59 warnings and 13 stop-work orders along the pipeline that has now been completed.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.



Source link

Continue Reading

Trending

Exit mobile version