WATERLOO—Former MPP Elizabeth Witmer is “worth every single penny” of the $188,000 she’ll be paid as the new chair of the Workplace Safety Insurance Board, Premier Dalton McGuinty said Thursday.
“It is a big job,” the premier added in defending the wage that is higher than the job’s current occupant, former Liberal MPP Steve Mahoney who did it on a part-time basis and was not on the “sunshine list” of public sector earners making over $100,000 annually.
Mahoney, however, was paid $129,400 last year but was not on the salary disclosure list because, as part-time chair billing on a per diem basis, he is not classified as a full-time employee. The maximum payout for his job was set at $135,000, a WSIB spokesperson said.
McGuinty made the comments in a campaign-style appearance at a health care company in Witmer’s former riding of Waterloo, where a by-election must be called by late October.
Witmer stunned political observers last week when she left the Progressive Conservatives to take the job with the WSIB.
A Liberal victory could give McGuinty’s minority government a de facto majority.
The premier was clearly courting Witmer supporters in carefully crafted remarks.
“It is a big job,” the premier added in defending the wage that is higher than the job’s current occupant, former Liberal MPP Steve Mahoney who did it on a part-time basis and was not on the “sunshine list” of public sector earners making over $100,000 annually.
Mahoney, however, was paid $129,400 last year but was not on the salary disclosure list because, as part-time chair billing on a per diem basis, he is not classified as a full-time employee. The maximum payout for his job was set at $135,000, a WSIB spokesperson said.
McGuinty made the comments in a campaign-style appearance at a health care company in Witmer’s former riding of Waterloo, where a by-election must be called by late October.
Witmer stunned political observers last week when she left the Progressive Conservatives to take the job with the WSIB.
A Liberal victory could give McGuinty’s minority government a de facto majority.
The premier was clearly courting Witmer supporters in carefully crafted remarks.