Canada's top CEOs earn 200 times an average worker's salary: report

[Dral]

 That's it? I really expected it to be more....

[goalie13]

1 minute ago, Ryan Strome said:

Many average workers are responsible for success of companies, you likely fall in that category my friend. The increase in pay for ceos and "average workers" is totally lopsided. If these companies are doing so well why aren't the average workers seeing a meaningful increase in their pay?

Maybe it's because I already feel like I am reasonably compensated for what I do.  Would I like more?  Sure.  But I make over $70K a year, I have a decent benefits package, a pension and I get to work from home.  As long as I keep getting small bumps in pay so I can keep up with inflation, I am pretty happy.  If I want more money I can strive for higher paying jobs in the company, but it's really hard to knock my current situation.

 

If you take my CEOs pay and redistributed it to all the employees, we would each get a couple hundred bucks.  So really, I don't think his $10M is out of line considering the size of the company he runs.  Especially so when you consider most of his pay isn't in money but in stock options, so he doesn't really get paid unless the company does well.

[Ryan Strome]

7 minutes ago, goalie13 said:

Maybe it's because I already feel like I am reasonably compensated for what I do.  Would I like more?  Sure.  But I make over $70K a year, I have a decent benefits package, a pension and I get to work from home.  As long as I keep getting small bumps in pay so I can keep up with inflation, I am pretty happy.  If I want more money I can strive for higher paying jobs in the company, but it's really hard to knock my current situation.

 

If you take my CEOs pay and redistributed it to all the employees, we would each get a couple hundred bucks.  So really, I don't think his $10M is out of line considering the size of the company he runs.  Especially so when you consider most of his pay isn't in money but in stock options, so he doesn't really get paid unless the company does well.

I can understand your point in this post and I'm also compensated well for what I do however so many are not as fortunate as we are. Again if companies are doing so well why aren't average Canadians being rewarded? Why are their pay increase so minimal?

 

As for the stock options.

He also wants Ottawa to close tax loopholes such as the stock option deduction, a tax perk where profits from stock options are taxed at a lower rate compared to regular income. Many rich CEOs benefit from the perk. 

[Ryan Strome]

17 minutes ago, Dral said:

 That's it? I really expected it to be more....

Seriously? 

 

I expected the average income of Canadians to be higher. How does the average Canadian buy a house in Vancouver, Calgary, Kelowna, Penticton, Toronto, Ottawa, etc.

 

It doesn't matter if you're conservative, liberal or ndp this doesn't look good at all. The rich continue to significantly get richer while the average Canadian see minimal gains while the cost of living grows faster. How can a great Country like this continue like that?

[Heretic]

I guess we should vote in the Communist Party of Canada next election.  

[goalie13]

1 minute ago, Ryan Strome said:

I can understand your point in this post and I'm also compensated well for what I do however so many are not as fortunate as we are. Again if companies are doing so well why aren't average Canadians being rewarded?

As I mentioned, I feel that I am being rewarded, but I get that's not always the case.  Without doing any specific research, I imagine companies like Walmart, McDonalds, or any other multi-billion-dollar-paying-minimum-wage company could likely afford to pay their employees a more livable wage.

[goalie13]

13 minutes ago, Ryan Strome said:

I expected the average income of Canadians to be higher. How does the average Canadian buy a house in Vancouver, Calgary, Kelowna, Penticton, Toronto, Ottawa, etc.

 

It doesn't matter if you're conservative, liberal or ndp this doesn't look good at all. The rich continue to significantly get richer while the average Canadian see minimal gains while the cost of living grows faster. How can a great Country like this continue like that?

Is the CEO's salary really the problem?

 

An example:  Rogers CEO makes $26M in total compensation.  They have 26,000 employees.  If the CEO was paid nothing, that could be an extra $1,000 per employee, or about $80 per month.  I don't think that's enough to solve the housing problem.  Housing is a far bigger issue than that.

[nuckin_futz]

If Francesco didn't pay Trevor so much the popcorn vendor could get paid more.

[Lancaster]

People make what the market think they're worth.  

[-Stammer-]

Is there really a surprise here?

[Ryan Strome]

1 minute ago, Lancaster said:

People make what the market think they're worth.  

Certain people.

[Ryan Strome]

6 minutes ago, goalie13 said:

Is the CEO's salary really the problem?

 

An example:  Rogers CEO makes $26M in total compensation.  They have 26,000 employees.  If the CEO was paid nothing, that could be an extra $1,000 per employee, or about $80 per month.  I don't think that's enough to solve the housing problem.  Housing is a far bigger issue than that.

Agreed.

[JM_]

1 hour ago, Toews said:

Agreed. Shareholders are not in the business of dolling out large sums of money to someone that is incompetent at their job. If you have a skillset that generates large sums of money for your employer then you have every right to ask for your piece of the pie. 

 

Should we be outraged at how much the shareholders earn? Of course not because they own the business and entitled to the profits. The same logic should apply to CEOs. 

Exactly. All of us have our CPP and whatever additional pension money with companies that pay dividends, so its in all of our interest that CEOs perform like rockstars, and be canned immediately if they aren't. 

 

But having said that income inequality needs to be addressed too, but imo it has more to do with raising people up with much higher minimum wages, free college, etc. vs falling into a media trap that leads nowhere. 

[Lancaster]

Just now, Ryan Strome said:

Certain people.

Isn't it kinda like when people who are like 5-6 max on the attractiveness scale believes they're 9-10 and expects to be treated as such.  

 

Sorry, not everyone has what it takes to reach the very top.  Most people are replaceable in their roles, thus they get paid less.  I never complain about some rich dude making way more money than me.... since in the very end, it's my own fault I don't earn as much.  Maybe I didn't go the best education route, I didn't learn the necessary skills, I should have networked more, perhaps I should be more aggressive in terms of career advancement/wage, start my own business, etc.  

 

Worry less about others and worry more about yourself.

[Kragar]

6 minutes ago, Ryan Strome said:

Seriously? 

 

I expected the average income of Canadians to be higher. How does the average Canadian buy a house in Vancouver, Calgary, Kelowna, Penticton, Toronto, Ottawa, etc.

 

It doesn't matter if you're conservative, liberal or ndp this doesn't look good at all. The rich continue to significantly get richer while the average Canadian see minimal gains while the cost of living grows faster. How can a great Country like this continue like that?

Who are you, and what did you do with Ryan Strome?  There are plenty I would have thought would post this article and take that stance, but I didn't think you would be one of them.  When I saw @Jimmy McGill taking the opposing stance, I thought maybe you guys switched accounts somehow   (of course, that was dispelled when I saw Jimmy's minimum wage and free education post a couple minutes ago)

 

The CEO income has nothing at all to do with people's inability to afford a house in those markets.  We all know how Vancouver's market has been abused by offshore investors, and as people have moved/cashed out, other housing markets are going to get hit similarly as newly-rich ex-Vancouverites take their new wealth with and raise demand in these other cities. 

 

Also, as @goalie13 hinted, moderating C-level income will do next to nothing for us regular worker bees.  Sure, the optics are bad, but that has been all the Occupy movement has when it comes to this particular 1% issue.  The only times I have an issue with excessive CEO compensation is when the company gets bailed out by the government, or the company continues to do poorly but they keep getting their increases.  At least in the latter case, it's the company choosing to do this, and it's their own fault if they continue to fail under overpaid poor leadership, since the board can can the CEO as needed.  With the bailout situation, I think it's only fair to freeze (and ideally reduce) C-level income until the bailout is repaid in full.

[Ryan Strome]

2 minutes ago, Lancaster said:

Isn't it kinda like when people who are like 5-6 max on the attractiveness scale believes they're 9-10 and expects to be treated as such.  

 

Sorry, not everyone has what it takes to reach the very top.  Most people are replaceable in their roles, thus they get paid less.  I never complain about some rich dude making way more money than me.... since in the very end, it's my own fault I don't earn as much.  Maybe I didn't go the best education route, I didn't learn the necessary skills, I should have networked more, perhaps I should be more aggressive in terms of career advancement/wage, start my own business, etc.  

 

Worry less about others and worry more about yourself.

You have me pegged all wrong but I do find it concerning that multi millionaires are receiving 8% pay raises while everyone else is hardly even seeing an increase in their pay.

[Ryan Strome]

14 minutes ago, Kragar said:

Who are you, and what did you do with Ryan Strome?  There are plenty I would have thought would post this article and take that stance, but I didn't think you would be one of them.  When I saw @Jimmy McGill taking the opposing stance, I thought maybe you guys switched accounts somehow   (of course, that was dispelled when I saw Jimmy's minimum wage and free education post a couple minutes ago)

 

The CEO income has nothing at all to do with people's inability to afford a house in those markets.  We all know how Vancouver's market has been abused by offshore investors, and as people have moved/cashed out, other housing markets are going to get hit similarly as newly-rich ex-Vancouverites take their new wealth with and raise demand in these other cities. 

 

Also, as @goalie13 hinted, moderating C-level income will do next to nothing for us regular worker bees.  Sure, the optics are bad, but that has been all the Occupy movement has when it comes to this particular 1% issue.  The only times I have an issue with excessive CEO compensation is when the company gets bailed out by the government, or the company continues to do poorly but they keep getting their increases.  At least in the latter case, it's the company choosing to do this, and it's their own fault if they continue to fail under overpaid poor leadership, since the board can can the CEO as needed.  With the bailout situation, I think it's only fair to freeze (and ideally reduce) C-level income until the bailout is repaid in full.

I'm conservative, nothing has changed. Standing up for Canadian workers is not a partisan thing It's the right thing. If these corporations are doing so well why is the average Canadian not? You're American I believe?? During Americas best times both parties at the helm corporations made big money and average workers did well with consistent pay growth this was pretty much the same in Canada.

 

Going back to the conservative part I'm not saying the government should pay for everything however loopholes could be removed and billionaires could pay their fair share. I think you would agree. 

 

A strong middle class for any political party and country is a good thing and at one time was very much a conservative idea. If wages were going up at higher percentage and the average worker had more disposable income I doubt you would see any concern for how much ceos are making.

[Kragar]

1 minute ago, Ryan Strome said:

You have me pegged all wrong but I do find it concerning that multi millionaires are receiving 8% pay raises while everyone else is hardly even seeing an increase in their pay.

Welcome to globalization, and the real first world problem.  As we watch the borders on the labor market diminish into nothingness, there is less "everyone else" can do about it. Whether they are TFN's, migrant workers, or offshore tech companies, there is a massive pool of labor that was not necessarily available before, and their presence depresses wages and impacts employment levels in our countries.

[Ryan Strome]

3 minutes ago, Kragar said:

Welcome to globalization, and the real first world problem.  As we watch the borders on the labor market diminish into nothingness, there is less "everyone else" can do about it. Whether they are TFN's, migrant workers, or offshore tech companies, there is a massive pool of labor that was not necessarily available before, and their presence depresses wages and impacts employment levels in our countries.

+1 I absolutely agree with your post. 

[Lancaster]

18 minutes ago, Ryan Strome said:

You have me pegged all wrong but I do find it concerning that multi millionaires are receiving 8% pay raises while everyone else is hardly even seeing an increase in their pay.

Sorry, I meant "you" as in society in general and not you personally.  

 

With the pay raises, it's the company that decided on that.  The shareholders approved, so the onus is on them.