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."