Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - August 01, 2015, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE A8 A 8 WINNIPEG FREE PRESS, SATURDAY, AUGUST 1, 2015 TOP NEWS winnipegfreepress. com T HERE is no justification for Manitoba Hydro to reward its top executives with rich pay increases given the corporation's uncertain financial status, the Progressive Conservative critic says. On Friday, Lakeside MLA Ralph Eichler also accused Hydro of failing to be upfront with the Public Utilities Board earlier this year when it made its case for a 3.95 per cent consumer- rate hike. Eichler said the corporation had suggested executive pay would be capped at modest levels in future years, without revealing top managers had just received double- digit increases. " To me, they misled Manitobans and the misled the PUB," he said. " The reality is Manitobans are on the hook, and it's just wrong." An analysis by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 2034, which represents Hydro field workers, found the corporation handed its top managers pay raises of 15 to 23 per cent last year. The analysis was based on a newly filed salary- disclosure report. The PUB recently handed the corporation the nearly four per cent rate boost it was seeking. Hydro is expected to ask for more consumer hikes in the future to pay for megaprojects such as the Bipole transmission line and the Keeyask generating station. Gloria Desorcy, executive director of the Manitoba branch of the Consumers Association of Canada, said Manitoba Hydro's financial challenges stem, in part, from its failure to accurately estimate its revenues and costs. The Crown corporation's leadership has constantly overestimated the projected value of U. S. exports while greatly underestimating the costs of its capital projects, she said. " It begs the question, should we be rewarding those decisions?" Desorcy said, in reference to the executive pay hikes. Manitoba Hydro says it boosted the salaries of its executive team last year after discovering its compensation package was among the poorest in the country among similar corporations. Bryan Luce, Hydro's vice- president of human resources and corporate services, said Friday the corporation engaged a consulting firm, which compared pay and benefits at Hydro with 80 other companies. The firms included other government- owned utilities, large private- sector companies in Manitoba and other Manitoba Crown corporations. The consultant found compensation for top managers at Manitoba Hydro to be among the bottom 10 per cent of those studied. " We don't want to be at the top, and we don't want to be at the bottom," Luce said of Hydro's ranking. " But we want to find ourselves somewhere in the middle." Luce also said the pay hikes calculated by IBEW were distorted by the fact the company had 27 pay periods last year compared with the normal 26. He said that added about four per cent to everyone's pay. He also claimed last year's pay hike to top managers averaged only 7.2 per cent, but offered no evidence other than the additional pay period to back the assertion. Luce disputed the charge Hydro had pulled a fast one at the PUB hearings. He said company president and CEO Scott Thomson referenced the consultant's report and senior management's relatively low salaries during the proceedings. Luce said Hydro needs to pay higher salaries to find and retain top talent. The corporation has seen seven or eight of its top 11 managers resign or retire over the past two years, he said. In late June, Thomson himself announced he was leaving. The corporation is in the process of searching for a new president and CEO. Meanwhile, Luce said the pay hikes offered last year barely made a dent in the compensation deficit Hydro executives face compared with their counterparts in other firms. He said the corporation has a strategy to increase its competitiveness gradually over the next half- dozen years. larry. kusch@ freepress. mb. ca 774- 4444 We are open 24 hours at: www. winnipegdodge. ca TOLL FREE 1- 877- 448- 7788 OPEN: Mon. & Tues. 9 am - 9 pm; Wed. - Sat. 9 am - 6 pm Closed Holiday Monday Dealer Permit # 5053 Walt Morris President WE ARE OVERSTOCKED AND NEED TO CLEAR OUT ALL T HIS INVENTORY NOW!! ALL OFFERS ACCEPTED!! 2015 CHRYSLER 200 LX 2015 DODGE GRAND CARAVAN CVP $ 17,995 $ 20,995 STK# 564648 STK# 502611 $ 20,695 O B O + GST PST OBO + GST PST OBO + GST PST B RAN D BRAND NEW NEW BRAND NEW NEW DEMO DEMO 0 0 % % INTEREST INTEREST OB O SALE! LOWEST PRICES AND PAYMENTS OF THE YEAR! 2015 DODGE JOURNEY CVP $ 0 DOWN N O P A YME NT S FOR 6MONTHS STK# 518437 Hydro hoodwinked PUB, says MLA Tory critic pans rate increase, execs' pay raise By Larry Kusch ' To me they misled Manitobans and the misled the PUB. The reality is Manitobans are on the hook, and it's just wrong' - Lakeside MLA Ralph Eichler A_ 08_ Aug- 01- 15_ FP_ 01. indd A8 7/ 31/ 15 9: 50: 48 PM ;