Today Fri Sat
It is forcast to be Fog at 11:00 PM EDT on May 24, 2012
Fog
29°/18°		 It is forcast to be Chance of a Thunderstorm at 11:00 PM EDT on May 25, 2012
Chance of a Thunderstorm
31°/19°		 It is forcast to be Mostly Cloudy at 11:00 PM EDT on May 26, 2012
Mostly Cloudy
26°/16°

17 Comments

news

Duly Quoted: Hugh Mackenzie

By Torontoist

“Canadians may still be feeling the pain from a worldwide economic meltdown caused by reckless financial speculation but Canada’s business elite has preserved its privileged position.”
—Hugh Mackenzie, research associate for the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, which released a report yesterday examining the compensation received by Canadian CEOs in 2009 [PDF]. Among his findings: “At the rate they earned in 2009, by about 2:30 p.m. on January 3 the average of the one hundred best-paid public company CEOs in Canada already pocketed what it would take a Canadian working full-time all year to earn.”

Filed under: , , ,

Report error Send a tip

Comments

  • http://paul.kishimoto.name Paul Kishimoto

    Those curious about income disparity should look up the idea of a “national income parade,” developed by Jan Pen, in which each citizen has their height scaled according to their income.

  • rich1299

    Its disgusting how much money CEOs make, in less than 3 days they make the what an average Canadian working full time makes in an entire year, that's approximately 122 times as much. Something to keep in mind when your bosses tell you the company just can't afford to give you a raise so you'd make a decent wage, or that you have to work lots of over time for no extra pay, or hearing some companies say they can only afford to pay minimum wage. Really rather galling when you consider how much not only the CEO makes but all the top executives as well while those who actually do the work of making the company money get the little bit left over. Plus the fact that many companies shrunk their workforce rather than cutting back their CEOs pay during the recession, making thousands unemployed while those at the top make just as much as always.

    Its this sort of behaviour that makes many people contemptuous of our current economic system, yet for others its those fighting for the common worker, the unions, that they blame for every ill in society and most of them are just plain old working people themselves attacking other working people for doing slightly better than themselves while having nothing to say about the fact the CEO of their company likely makes 122 times as much as they do, They got us fighting amongst ourselves for the scraps that fall from their tables, very sad indeed.

  • torontothegreat

    “those who actually do the work of making the company money”

    – People who do the work rarely are the ones that make the company money. It's mostly the CEO's job to not only run the entire company, but also create new money making opportunities to make the money. CEO's don't just sit around doing nothing and most of them work ridiculous hours and have to constantly travel etc.

    I think your perception of CEO's is quite warped, with all due respect.

  • tyrannosaurus_rek

    There is still an incredible imbalance at work. Someone has to make decisions and direct the company, but where would the company be without the hundreds of people putting the widgets together, overseeing the day-to-day accounts details, making the place function coherently, etc? When the economy nosedives, the people laid off by the dozens are the ones least able to go without steady income for more than a few months, while the CEOs are awarded bonuses or given enormous severance payouts to ensure their standard of living doesn't feel any turbulence.

  • torontothegreat

    a) there would be no company to speak about if not for a CEO. Every company, even a 1 person shop, has a CEO.
    b) widget workers are easily replaceable, good CEO's are much harder to come by
    c) CEO bonuses are based on performance, not economic “hard times”. So it's a strawman argument at best.
    d) Severerence is based on salary, bonuses, vacation, etc. CEO's often get the same severance package % as you would. They just happen to make more.
    e) It has nothing to do with standard of living feeling turbulance, please refer back to c)

  • tyrannosaurus_rek

    Well if you can explain it then it must be fine!

  • torontothegreat

    What's that supposed to mean? Is there no imbalance at your own workplace just between junior and senior people? In your perfect world, we all work the same hours, and get the same loaf of bread at the end of the day? I make more than 2 times the amount of my junior staff. I also get a higher bonus and work twice as much and am responsible for 10x more than they are. I've worked hard to achieve this, should I not be paid to reflect that?

  • tyrannosaurus_rek

    Go back and read every word, not just the convenient ones. For example “an incredible imbalance”, not “an imbalance”.

    Every couple of weeks I swear I'm done replying to your flabbergasting displays of creative reading comprehension, and here we go again.

  • torontothegreat

    I have read every word (thanks for being so condescending, BTW). And I have offered my response, to which you have flakily ran home with your ball. I posed a “real world” question to you, you avoided it.

    There are several reasons why there is an “incredible imbalance”, as I've outlined above and was/is open to discuss, without thinly veiled insults.

    You have failed both discussing and refraining. Good job, A+!

  • Eric S. Smith

    Every company, even a 1 person shop, has a CEO.

    What does this semantic tomfoolery have to do with the massively privileged positions of the executives in very large organizations? You can call a sole proprietor a CEO if you want, but it just proves that you wore a tie to all of your undergrad business courses.

  • torontothegreat

    Underscoring the responsibility put on 1 person's shoulders is hardly semantics. Judging from the rest of your post I'd think you're being a tad cynical.
    So, if more responsibility does not equal more compensation, what alternative do you present?
    Keep in mind that it's a sliding scale. Larger the business, the more resposibility one would have

  • nevilleross

    On the contrary, our perception of CEO's is quite right, and you're just a corporate shill kissing ass and talking shit.

  • torontothegreat

    You made 0 points, but laced a reply with insults? Very intelli… oh nevermind, I see you're just a troll…

  • torontothegreat

    Prey tell, what exactly am I “shilling”? It's obvious you don't even know the meaning of that word…

  • nevilleross

    Hey guy/gal, if you're that clueless as to what people are feeling on this issue, it's your bag, ya know? I really have no way to get through to a mind that's completely brainwashed, and I don't think the other commenters want to bother, either.

  • torontothegreat

    Thank you “International commentor spokesperson”. So we've established that you are unaware of the meaning of “shill” and now I'm questioning your awereness of the meaning of “brainwashed”.

    Hey, if you want to discuss, I've presented some worthwhile points above. Otherwise, not sure what you're trying to get at otherwise…

  • torontothegreat

    Thank you “International commentor spokesperson”. So we've established that you are unaware of the meaning of “shill” and now I'm questioning your awereness of the meaning of “brainwashed”.

    Hey, if you want to discuss, I've presented some worthwhile points above. Otherwise, not sure what you're trying to get at otherwise…