Salary and bonus cuts planned
for next TransLink CEO

» New salary chosen by Mayors’ Council and independent consultant

Mercedes Deutscher
News Editor
M4 news@theotherpress.ca

he next CEO of TransLink

and successor to Ian Jarvis
may have not been chosen yet,
but the salary has.

A salary range between
$325,092 and $406,364 for the
next CEO has been approved
by the Mayors’ Council and an
independent consultant. The
new salary, expected to fallin
the centre of that range, was
devised by analysing other
CEO salaries across BC, such
as the executive salaries of
the BC Ferries, BC Hydro, and
Port Metro Vancouver’s CEOs.
In addition to the salary cut,
bonuses and vehicle allowances
have been eliminated.

These cuts will affect not
only the new CEO, but other
TransLink executive employees,
who will also not be receiving
vehicle allowances.

The TransLink board cited
that these cuts are being made as
an effort to regain public trust,

with the overwhelming defeat of
the transit plebiscite earlier this
year.

“We believe that by

: eliminating bonuses and car

: allowances, and cutting the

: number of senior positons at

: TransLink, we have addressed
: those concerns,” said Barry

: Forbes, a board member of

: TransLink, in a statement

: reported by CTV.

The salary cuts will save

: TransLink over $100,000 in CEO
: pay alone. Former TransLink

: CEO Jarvis received a $435,015

: salary in 2014, including $97,671
: in bonuses and $18,100 in vehicle :
: allowances. Some cuts were :
: made in the last two years and

: over the interim CEO spans of

: Doug Allen and Cathy McLay,

: which has allowed TransLink to
: save $2 million.

Negotiations over the new

: CEO salary did not go entirely

: smoothly. Wayne Baldwin, the

: mayor of White Rock, argued

: to the Surrey Leader that the

: adjusted salary is still too high,
: and should instead be capped at
: $365,000.

Baldwin said to the Surrey

: Leader: “I thought some of the
: comparators they used were too

oe : rich and not appropriate.”
as public distrust was made clear :

However, Baldwin explained : @ higher salary.

: that it had taken some time

: to get to the number that the

: Mayors’ Council did, with the

: consultant originally suggesting

The new salary gained the

approval of BC Community
: Minister Peter Fassbender, who
: called it “a reasonable salary

: range,” via the Surrey Leader.

Since a new salary has
been generally agreed upon,

: it’s expected that Fassbender
: will soon suggest continuing

 

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: the search for the next CEO.

: The hiring process was paused

: during the summer, after

: Fassbender suggested a review of
: the salary prior to the hiring.

 

Full platform releases, advanced polling, and religious debates

» A recap of week 10 of the 2015 Canadian Federal Election

 
  
 

Mercedes Deutscher
News Editor
& news@theotherpress.ca

lection polls shifted

drastically in week 10 of the
elections, as party rankings
became more clear and defined.
The Liberal Party has begun to
emerge as the front-runner with
a 35.1 per cent lead in the polls.
The Conservative Party follows
in second place with 29.0 per

cent, while the NDP continues to :

trail with 25.0 per cent.

The three leading parties
all released their full platforms
this week, with the Liberal Party
doing so on Monday, and both
the Conservative Party and NDP
releasing their platforms on
Friday.

The Liberal platform
included goals of ending
boiled-water advisories on First
Nations’ reserves, improving
transportation infrastructure
and health marketing, and
reducing student debt by only
requesting repayment of loans
after students earn more than

$25,000 annually—all while
: running a three-year deficit
: before balancing the budget.

The Conservative platform

: promised new investments

: without cuts and with the use of
: lowered taxes. Their spending

: platform involves over $1 billion
: in compensation for dairy

: farmers who will be losing some
: business from Canada’s implied
: upcoming membership with

 

: the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

: Other Conservative goals in

: their platform include increasing
: the number of summer jobs

: for students, investing in

: agricultural studies, and

: decreasing problems that make it :
: difficult for First Nation peoples
: to own property on reserves,

The NDP platform promises

of interest on student loans. The
: party predicts a budget surplus
: in their first year.

Thousands of Canadians

: lined up for advance polling
: available from October 9 to

12, with the unexpectedly

: high number of voters causing
: frustration for many. Prisoners in :
: Canadian correctional facilities
: electoral reforms, the ban of bulk :
: water exports, and the removal

also had their chance to vote

; on October 9g, 10 days prior to
: Election Day, as per usual for
: federal elections.

For the third week in a row,

: the political discussion appears

: to have been dominated by

: refugees and religious debates.

: On Wednesday, Prime Minister
: Stephen Harper suggested that

: are-election of the Conservative
1: Party could bring about bans

: of niqabs in the public service

: industries, particularly in

: Quebec. The issue garnered

{ : frustrated responses from both

~ : Justin Trudeau and Tom Mulcair.

“He is stirring up the politics

: of fear and division in a way

: that, quite frankly, is unworthy

: of the office he holds,” Trudeau

: said while at a rally in London,

: Ontario. “His priorities are in the
: wrong place.”

Mulcair echoed the

: sentiments while at a campaign

: stop in Alberta: “[Harper] would
: rather us to talk about subjects
other than the fact that he’s been

a total failure on First Nations,

: Inuit, and Métis issues.”