kimmy April 2, 2008 at 4:45 p.m.

Along with those salaries I think it would be a great idea to also disclose the hours these people are working......it might shock many to know this fact! Do you really think a general duty officer in a prison making over 100k is not working extraordinary hours? You bet they are and I would also bet that the provincial government is not taking steps to hire more people to keep up with the demand. So once again the government pays time and a half to people working o/t instead of hiring more people......don't bash those who are working their tails off, instead go after the government for not filling the positions that are needed that go unfilled. BTW the government also has a big problem with employees not showing up for work, calling in sick. You go work 85 hours per week and tell me you wouldn't be burnt out, hell tell the government who tries to make these people feel like abusers of the system!

Shawn Micallef April 2, 2008 at 6:04 p.m.

It's an interesting list. When I was first out of grad school I was applying to all kinds of civil service jobs. I went into a contract at a nice non profit, but have often wondered what if I was scoped up by the bureaucracy. In retrospect (based on personal happiness, interests, etc) I'm happy I wasn't because those jobs are hard to quick, even if you figure out you don't like them. But this list of obscure managers of obscure departments might have been "a future"-- so yes, interesting list

That IS Shocking! April 3, 2008 at 8:20 p.m.

Just looked at that list wow that is disgusting, considering half those people barely do anything in their job. This I have seen personally so I do know what I am talking about before anyone decides to say otherwise.
Yes some people worth paying that amount such as Doctor's, nurses,and etc where they have no choice but to work crazy hours such as 85hrs a week. As for others in the system such as housing and social services and etc, those employees don't do very much they work 9am to 4:30 pm. And once they leave their job that's where it stays they don't work extra over time. Even when they are to be working they are sitting around chatting to one another while there is work needed to be done and the back log of things starts piling up, and of course who gets stuck cleaning up after their laziness the low paid employees who are paid minimum wage. Not enough to survive off of. You should get paid for the work you do. Half those people don't deserve that kind of pay and there are people out there who would actually do the work for that money so OUT WITH THE LAZY! Hire the ones that would appericate and take the job serious for that amount of money. Of fire a few and I am sure you can hire more people who would work for less than that and get the job done.

Dave April 4, 2008 at 12:24 a.m.

Well, "That IS Shocking!", if you in fact a provincial civil servant and that is how well you express yourself on the job, please quit now - you are part of the problem.

I won't defend any particular name on the list - every company everywhere has someone who doesn't earn what they are being paid. However, the fact is it is getting harder and harder to get qualified people into jobs in the civil service. Oh I know - civil servants are useless and lazy and everything would just work so much better if we fired them all and hired qualified replacements for half the price.

But guess what? Those replacements don't exist. Many of these people can make more money in private industry. Want good lawyers to convict people? Then you have to compete with the Bay Street law firms. Want someone to oversee $30 Million in new construction work? Have to compete with oil sands development.

No one wants to believe this, but when the baby-boomers retire, the civil service is screwed. There are very few qualified to replace them who are willing to work for the civil service. Why on earth would the young 'best and brightest' want to be considered lazy and stupid by the general public? Politicians and media have run down civil servants for years and years, and that has had the effect of chasing away people from choosing a career in civil service.

But hey, rant on....mark my words - in 10 years they'll be running ads begging qualified people to work for the government.

kimmy April 4, 2008 at 11 a.m.

Don't kid yourself, I was thrilled to get a public service job and I am worth every penny they pay me! It's only when I am working o/t that I feel they are getting closer to my true value.

Thaigrrr April 4, 2008 at 8:32 p.m.

Advertise a civil servant job in the newspaper & you have a line up 4 kilometers long the next day. Is it because all those people want to work 80 hours a week or is it because working for the province is akin to winning the lottery?

It's obvious, Ontario civil services, for the vast majority, are grossly over-staffed and over-paid. We pay $25 MILLION per day on our deficit interest, we can't afford to bleed like this much longer.

When the IMF takes over Ontario's bankrupt finances, oh the times, they will be a changin'.
Then civvies will have to actually earn their salaries rather than browsing face-book & collecting fat cheques from the magical Provincial Money Tree.

Dave April 4, 2008 at 10:37 p.m.

Hey Thaigrrr,

Check out http://www.gojobs.gov.on.ca/Search.aspx .

259 jobs available - go ahead and win the lottery.

Of course, judging from your knowledge of the IMF and Ontario's finances, you won't be qualified for any of them in any case.

Thaigrr April 5, 2008 at 3:25 a.m.

There will be 999 people turned down for every one of those positions, the fact that there are so many is a testament to how over-serviced Ontario is. Isn't it true we have more civil servants than New York which has 40% more people?

Do you think the taxpayers can sustain this forever? You obviously need clarity regarding Ontario's finances, Dave. In case you haven't heard, Ontario is $163 BILLION in debt & interest on that monster is $25 MILLION per day. (per Canadian Taxpayers Federation: http://lakesuperiornews.info/Columnists/...)

How did last week's Liberal budget address this? By setting another civvy spending record of $96.9 billion!

As you well know, Dave, the IMF steps in when your own incompetence has resulted in bankruptcy on an international scale, which is exactly where Ontario is headed, and which is exactly what the electorate here deserves.

The number of people on the Sunshine List has more than doubled since McGuinty took office in 2003. There are now as many civil servants earning $100K+ per year as the entire population of Welland.

This sort of nonsense is why we private sector people have to work until June before we get to actually keep any of our earnings. Did you enjoy your recent Family Day off with pay, compliments of we, the working people, Dave? Family Day cost us money, big time. As if we weren't already battered enough under Dalton's dictatorship these last 5 years.

I'll leave it to the readers here to draw their own conclusions but I'm not holding my breath... There are soooo many civvies

That IS shocking April 6, 2008 at 7:36 p.m.

DAVE
I have personally wittness those lazy fat cats who get paid that amount money for work they self did not do at all. I watched someone else do the job slaving away hours out their life while they never got credit for the work but those lazy high paid peole took credit for work that wasn't theirs. That is my point. Their are many high paying jobs with lazy moocher in it who abuse the system by leeching off the hard work of others.

MJJ April 7, 2008 at 1:50 p.m.

I'm not happy about the numbers, but if you can't benchmark it, then it makes it difficult to say whether it's good or bad.

If you look at the 2007 year-end national public sector employment data (from Statistics Canada), Ontario employs (both municipal and provincial) roughly 75 workers for every 1,000 citizens. Alberta has 79 per 1,000, B.C. has 76 per 1,000, while the average for all ten-provinces is 92 per 1,000. So it looks like they're running a somewhat tight operation at Queen's Park.

As for making $100k, try hiring a mid-tier lawyer, engineer or accountant these days. I've been looking at bring another mid-level accountant (5 years since finished school) into my firm and they're demanding a salary in the range of $110-125k.

That Is Shocking April 7, 2008 at 11:53 p.m.

MJJ
You said "I've been looking at bring another mid-level accountant (5 years since finished school) into my firm and they're demanding a salary in the range of $110-125k."

Thats just sickening what happen to experience to earn that kind of pay. Sorry but I think someone just coming out of school should get half that to start the longer they stay with the firm each their progress will be reviewed if they did good they get a good raise if the did so so that be a soso raise like example 1 yr raise hmmm $10,000 for 100% proformance, 75% be $7,500. 50% be $5,000. 25% be $2,500, 10% be 1,000 5% be $500. I can understand someone that has 10 years experience asking for pay like that but not someone fresh out of school. The baby Boomers didn't start out with instant pays they had to work their ways to the high paying job they have today that they will be soon retiring from. Wow If I had that mid-level accountant experience I would be saying hey Hire me for half that! Thats what so wrong out there in our soceity everyone expects to be high paid but know one wants to earn their keep to get it. But what do I know I am A simple School bus driver for special needs children who works 10 hrs a day but only gets paid for 4 hrs which is $40 a day. Now that is unfair. But you wonder why I do it. I Love my job, even if the pay sucks and I can't get by on it. But if it wasn't for people like me picking up the slack more then 3 fouths of the students I pick up their parents are the ones with those high paying jobs that runs the city or corpations those parents would be stuck not being able to go to those jobs. Yes the Board of education pays the teachers an arm and a leg but only pays a bus driver $40 a day even though we work all day long. Believe me I gets less then $20,000. I would jump at the chance for $50,000. Considering the hours I already put into the job I worked for the last decade.

Ex-silly servant April 29, 2008 at 1:30 p.m.

Just a footnote:

They Sunshine list is usually for Management positions only. I have never seen a non-management (OPSEU) worker making over that. AMAPCEO workers (Management) have it made and yes they have won the lottery. As a past Silly Servant with the province and city I have experienced the laziness and stupidity of seeing these people keep their jobs while the non-management contract staff bust their asses off and getting nothing back. I couldn't stand working for the City or the Province. Simply disgusting to see the things I saw. Private sector worker/managers would never get away with it! The company would simply cave in on itself under the bearing salary costs and lack of product.