Annual 'Sunshine List' charts Sault's $100,000-and-up earners

Dr. Michael D'Agostino isn't just on Ontario's just-released 'Sunshine List' of people who earn $100,000 or more from the public purse.

The Sault Area Hospital (SAH) surgical and forensic pathologist qualified three times over in 2017, with combined salary and taxable benefits of $320,543.

Even D'Agostino's boss Ron Gagnon, SAH's president and chief executive officer, didn't quite make it into the $300,000 Club, falling just $300 short with $299,700.

A Sault native who's previously worked at Toronto's University Health Network and Health Sciences North in Sudbury, D'Agostino has earned more than $300,000 in three of the past five years.

Other big-money earners on the list released Friday are Police Chief Robert Keetch ($231,173 combined salary and benefits), departed Fire Chief Mike Figliola ($199,916), City Chief Administrative Officer Al Horsman ($209,731), Sault College President Ron Common ($285,973), Algoma University Acting President Celia Ross ($228,254), Crown Attorney Kelly Weeks ($221,334) and Group Health Centre CEO Alexander Lambert ($286,203).

The following are the top five Sault earners in each organization, as compiled by SooToday. 

We note that the formatting of the government's list makes it difficult or impossible in some cases to identify the cities in which individuals are based.

For this reason, local judges and OLG employees are notably absent from this list.

Sault Area Hospital

D'Agostino, Michael
Associate pathologist
$320,543

Gagnon, Ron
President and chief executive officer
$299,700

Webb, Andrew
Vice president of medical affairs
$284,496

Cassalman, Christa
Associate pathologist
$282,160

Watson, Ila
Vice president of transformation and chief human resources officer
$194,219

Sault Ste. Marie Police Service

Keetch, Robert A
Chief of police
$231,173

Sparling, Sean P
Deputy chief
$198,524

Rollin, Monique L
Inspector
$169,087

Kenopic, Michael A
Inspector
$159,516

Davey, Michael R
Inspector
$157,803

Sault Ste. Marie Fire Service

Figliola, Michael
Fire chief
$199,916

Martynuck, Stanley
Platoon chief
$133.584

Johnson, Peter C
Fire chief
$132,579

Ferris, Damon
Platoon chief
$128,874

Gillespie, T. Chris
Platoon chief
$128,727

City of Sault Ste. Marie

Horsman, Albert
Chief administrative officer
$209,731

Girardi, Larry
Deputy CAO public works and engineering services
$167,013

Kenny, Nuala M
City solicitor
$161,449

White, Malcolm
Deputy CAO corporate services, city clerk
$158,216

Schell, Shelley J
Chief financial officer
$146,062

Sault Ste. Marie Public Library

Toth-Rissanen, Roxanne
DIrector of public libraries
$120,085

Sault College

Common, Ronald
President
$285,973

Beatty, Janice
Vice president corporate and student services
$184,511

Kirkwood, Colin
Vice president academic
$184,175

Bruno, Cecilia
Chief financial officer
$142,213

King, Marilyn
Dean health, community services and interdisciplinary services
$136,131

Algoma University

Ross, Celia
President/ associate professor modern languages
$228,254

Xu, Shaochun
Professor computer science/math
$178,160

Chamberlin, Craig
President
$177,000

Dwyer, Sean
Vice president finance and administration
$179,280

Osei, William
Professor geography
$169,449

Ontario Ministry of Labour

Bonnick, Jervis
District manager, Ministry of Labour, Sault Ste. Marie
$112,410

Ontario Ministry of Northern Development and Mines

Colpitts, R. Leigh
Manager Sault Ste. Marie area team, Ministry of Northern Development and Mines
$116,272

Group Health Centre

Lambert, Alexander
Chief executive officer
$286.203

Barker, Ralph
Vice president - information communication technology
$183,544

Barone, Tony
Vice president - clinical operations
$174,337

Rainey, Steven John
Vice president - human resources
$173,775

Fetterly, Darren
Vice president - clinical operations
$173,214

District of Sault Ste. Marie Social Services Administration Board

Nadeau, Michael
Chief executive officer
$160,067

Petersson, David
Director of finance and administration
$117,562

Barban, Jeffrey
Director of housing services
$117,181

Reid, Catherine
Manager of human resources
$107,263

Fairbrother, Carla
Manager of early years services
$105,856

Canadian Mental Health Association

Katajamaki, Annette
Executive director
$100,318

Algoma District School Board

Reece, Lucia
Director
$193,488

Santa Maria, Joe
Superintendent
$162,720

Maurice, Joseph
Superintendent
$162,719

Bell, Marcy
Superintendent
$147,658

Vallee, Brent
Superintendent
$147,658

Huron-Superior Catholic District School Board

Burton Spohn, Rosemarie
Director
$171,233

Esposito, Maria
Superintendent
$166,965

Bruno, John
Superintendent
$166,965

Spina, Christopher
Superintendent
$162,407

Chilelli, Joseph
Superintendent
$137,909

Community Living Algoma

Policicchio, John
Executive director
$134,274

Algoma Family Services

Juma, Ali
Chief executive officer
$144,787

Leith, Sandra J
Director of services
$115,437

Local Health Integration Network - North East

Monico, Christianne
Director, home and community care, Algoma
$136,538

Joanisse, Robin
Sub-region officer, Algoma
$105,655  

Ontario Ministry of the Attorney-General  

Weeks, Kelly A.
Crown attorney
$221,334

Kirk David
Assistant Crown attorney
$212,711

Pritchard, Karen E.
Assistant Crown attorney
$131,395

Peterson, Dana P.
Assistant Crown attorney
$203,233

This is the 21st time Ontario has released an annual list of people earning public-sector salaries of $100,000 or more.

The Public Sector Salary Disclosure Act applies to the Ontario government, Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp., Ontario Power Generation, hospitals, municipalities, school boards, colleges and universities, as well as not-for-profit organizations that meet a funding threshold.

"The $100,000 salary threshold for disclosure has not changed since the Public Sector Salary Disclosure Act was enacted in 1996, and has not been adjusted to keep up with inflation," the provincial Treasury Board Secretariat said in a statement released yesterday.

"If the salary threshold was adjusted for inflation, it would be $151,929 in today’s dollars, reducing the number of employees included in the compendium by 85 per cent," the government statement said.

"There are a number of reasons why employees may appear in the compendium, including: employees who are progressing in their career to more challenging positions, natural progression through salary ranges, overtime payments, retroactive pay awards, performance payments and payments that may be required on retirement (e.g. to reimburse the employee for unused vacation credits)."

Two years ago, Ward 2 Councillor Sandra Hollingsworth expressed concern about the annual lists, saying they were good only for coffee-shop gossip and negativity.

Yesterday, AMAPCEO, a union representing 13,250 professional and supervisory public servants across Ontario, complained that the Sunshine List allowed a stalker to locate and harass one of its members who had moved and assumed a new name.

"The Sunshine List allowed my stalker to locate me," the woman said. "It gave him enough information to be able to figure out where I work. With this information, my stalker was able to continue harassing me in the office."

The union has launched a campaign calling on the province to protect personal privacy by removing names from the annual list, while continuing to publish salaries.

"Sixty-two per cent of our members are women," AMAPCEO President Dave Bulmer said. "If this government is serious about protecting women in an age of digital information, they'll make a simple fix to the Public Sector Salary Disclosure Act to anonymize the list."