Report says salaries of Sask. Crown execs down 3% from previous year

Executives at Saskatchewan’s Crown corporations received $18.7 million in salary during the 2022-23 fiscal year, a drop of three per cent from the previous year.

In the 2022-23 payee disclosure report released Thursday, the Crown Investments Corporation (CIC) said the decrease in payments to executives was “due to the reduction of the salary holdback plan.”

The report covers the year from April 1, 2022 to March 31 of this year, and includes the salaries of all Crown employees who received more than $50,000.

SaskTel president-CEO Doug Burnett, who retired in February of this year, was paid $555,093 and received $7,515 in out-of-province travel expenses.

Charlene Gavel was named head of the telecommunications company this past August.

SGI president-CEO Penny McCune, who was hired to lead the insurance company in June of 2022, was paid $445,174 during the fiscal year. She also received $19,355 in travel expenses.

CIC’s president-CEO Kent Campbell had a salary of $409,690 and got $4,668 in out-of-province travel expenses.

SaskEnergy boss Mark Guillet, who had been acting as president-CEO since February of 2022 before taking on the role full time in May of this year, was paid $387,739 in the 2022-23 fiscal year and got $6,408 in travel expenses.

Rupen Pandya, who started as SaskPower’s president-CEO in July of 2022, received a salary of $343,453 and got $10,685 in out-of-province travel expenses.

“Total payments to employees for the reporting period were slightly over $1 billion — a four per cent increase over 2021-22 due to economic adjustments included in collective bargaining agreements,” the report said.

The media release added that through grants, contributions, donations and sponsorships, the Crown sector put about $16.8 million into charitable organizations, local sports associations and leagues, major tourism events and more.

“SGI’s $6-million contribution to the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency for firefighting initiatives and the sector’s renewed commitment to STARS Saskatchewan for $2 million per year from 2023 to 2028 are just two examples of Crowns’ efforts to support growth and services in Saskatchewan,” the release said.

The Crowns also paid $143 million in dividends and $93.5 million in equity repayments during the fiscal year to Saskatchewan’s General Revenue Fund.

The 2022-23 report can be found here.

Government releases Public Accounts

The provincial government released its 2022-23 Public Accounts Volume 2 on Thursday.

The document shows government payments during the fiscal year, including for things like travel expenses and the Saskatchewan Affordable Tax Credit.

The public accounts also show the annual salaries of politicians and public servants whose salaries exceeded $50,000. That list can be found below.