Why Wasn't Salary of Healthcare Foundation CEO Made Public Before Now?

Monday, May 31, 2010 03:45 AM

Last week Opinion250 revealed that the new CEO of the Spirit of the North Healthcare Foundation will earn a salary of $125,000 per year, up sharply from the previous Executive Director who commanded a salary of under $80,000.

The question remains however about why that information wasn't made public at the time the hiring of Don Gowan was announced.

You may recall, earlier this year the Prince George Citizen did a major story on the fact that the new Communications Manager at the City of Prince George would be earning about $107,000 a year in his new position. Now was that a story? Of course it is, there are a lot of people who would only hope to receive that kind of a wage , conversely they also would like to be able to earn the salary that is being paid to the new CEO of the Healthcare Foundation.

Now if there was a story in the fact that Mike Davis, was receiving a better than average wage for his work at the City, prey tell then would it not likewise be a story when someone raising funds for a foundation which required public contributions ,be an equally important story?

Sitting in on the panel to select a new CEO was Prince George Citizen Publisher Hugh Nicholson; as a matter of fact it was during a casual meeting that Don Gowan and Nicholson reportedly discussed Gowan as a possible replacement for the former head of the Spirit of The North. Nothing wrong with that, it happens every day, but when the news release was made there was no mention of the salary figure and why not?

That raises the questions of who put together the press release on the appointment and why was the salary omitted?

When the Prince George Citizen carried the story there was no mention of what the salary would be for Gowan, in spite of the fact that the Publisher of the paper sat on the hiring panel. As a matter of fact that information did not reach the public until revealed by Opinion250 some months later.

Now the simple question in the matter is why wasn’t Gowan’s salary made public at the time of his appointment? It is after all in the public interest, given that it is a foundation that relies on the public for its contributions and if the Public Relations Manager at City Hall’s salary warranted a full blown story why not in the case of the new CEO of the Spirit Of The North Healthcare Foundation?

I'm Meisner and that's One Man's Opinion

Previous Story - Next Story

Email |

Print |

Facebook |

Twitter |

Digg |

Del.icio.us

Posted on Monday, May 31, 2010 03:45 AM in Views by Ben Meisner

Return to Home

Comments

Posted by: metalman on May 31 2010 8:32 AM

Good question Ben, but don't hold your breath waiting for an answer.
metalman.

Posted by: Andyfreeze on May 31 2010 9:09 AM

This is the Gordo format for salaries.
It is how you buy your loyalty.
Just ask a Liberal MLA how many raises Gordo gave them?

Posted by: PrinceGeorge on May 31 2010 9:26 AM

Andy, this is not an exlusively Campbell thing. I remember being highly critical of the big raises all BCNDP governments gave itself for ministers, deputy ministers, MLAs, premiers, etc. etc.

I even wrote some letters to the Finance Minister in protest.

Answer: If the government does not pay salaries and benefits comparable to the private sectors + a bonus it will not be able to attract competent and suitable candidates to do the best possible job for the citizens.

The highest paid persons (it said) should be the premier and the ministers. After all, the run a province with a population of millions.

It's nothing new. Perhaps we can call it the: Barrett, Bennett, Vander Zalm, Harcourt, Clarke, Ujjal Dosangh, Miller, Campbell format.

Too long? Too bad.

Posted by: thedogs on May 31 2010 10:19 AM

Looks like the "old boys network" is alive and well at Northern health

Posted by: lizbythebay on May 31 2010 11:27 AM

If you go the Northern health website it shows all their salaries..Wow they wont have to pinch pennies when they are in ther Golden years....

Posted by: IMO on May 31 2010 12:33 PM

This has got to be a joke? They give a guy who has ZIP IN EXPERIENCE, 50,000 MORE!
The only thing I see here is another "give my friend a job" that all levels of government practices. The sorry state of it all is that $50,000 dollars is NOT going to go to the people it was intended for. Rediculous and shamefull! Heads need to roll!

Posted by: jales4 on May 31 2010 12:46 PM

Is there a code of ethics that those in the media are encouraged to adhere to?

Is there a code of ethics at Northern Health?

Who was responsible for the media release?

Was the media release produced and distributed in an ethical manner?

Posted by: gus on May 31 2010 1:43 PM

The foundation is not Northern Health. It is a separate charitable organization whose sole purpose is to raise funds to be given to the hospital for stuff the government ought to be buying but the generosity of the people is buying it instead.

Posted by: gus on May 31 2010 1:44 PM

Give freely. Give often. Otherwise the taxman will have to get more.

Posted by: gus on May 31 2010 1:47 PM

Of course, the taxman will have to get more, since the charitable donation can be used to reduce your income tax, which then means that those who do not reduce their income tax by charitable donations will end up paying more taxes.

Ah, a scheme only bean counters can possibly devise. :-)

Posted by: realitycheck on May 31 2010 2:05 PM

It is extremely rare to list a salary when announcing a hire. It's almost never done.

I'm not saying it's right but I challenge you to give me another example of a place you see.... "John Doe was hired as the CEO of Acme Co. at a salary of $125,000 plus benefits".

Doesn't happen (often, if at all) in government or private business. I think this is more of a case of standard practice than some sort of conspiracy.

In the case of government, non-profits and charitables there are routes to find this info out quite easily.

Posted by: Palopu on May 31 2010 9:37 PM

All I can say is that the Communications Manager from the Airport was very fortunate that at the same time the Airport was downsizing and gettng rid of his job, the City was looking for a new Communications person. Talk about good luck and timing.

As far as I know the Airport never filled the position of Communication Manager..

Posted by: Howrd_B_Stern on June 2 2010 10:00 AM

PPfft, the Mike Davis hiring was nothing more than Dan Rogers wanting to have someone head up the city's bid for the Canada Winter Games. I understand Mr. Davis has been quite busy finding an office chair as rumour has it that he has tried five different ones. Other than that, what does he do to warrant the wages he does? I know that Mike did a bang up job at the airport, what with his creation of citizens derived from stock photos and all.

And now we have yet another patronage appointment. Can someone please tell me why I have spent the majority of my professional career telling kids to stay in school and work hard so they can get a good job when they're done?

I should teach a course in brown nosing instead.

Posted by: gus on June 2 2010 12:05 PM

The first thing school should teach is: "It is not what you know, it is who you know."

At the end of the course, year, program of studies, the person who has been able to gather the most names with letters of support to the school of higher learning will go to the head of the class to graduate cum laude. The others will take their positions behind in accordance to their letters and their weightings.