Dozens of Pan Am Games executives are set to soon receive large bonuses from the provincial government for the keeping the sporting event on schedule and within budget.
An estimated 53 executives will split $5.7 million in added pay, with some receiving bonuses worth as much as their salaries, which range from $250,000 to $428,000.
In a bid to attract top-level talent, TO2015 executives were guaranteed bonuses or “completion incentives” to keep staff from leaving early -- and provided the Games came in on time and on budget.
The cost of security for the Games, which was set at $239 million, was the biggest financial concern for organizers.
But Michael Coteau, the Ontario minister responsible for the Pan Am Games, says the event ultimately came in $50 million under budget. “Great work by Infrastructure Ontario (for) making the right types of decisions and putting in the right types of contracts,” he said.
Opposition parties have been critical of the province’s use of taxpayer dollars to provide bonuses to the already high-earning executives, but the province says it is standard practice and the cost of the extra pay was already calculated in the Pan Am Games’ $2.5 billion budget.
In the lead-up to the Games, the Ontario government in 2013 ordered TO2015 to tighten its expense rules after some of top executives – including former CEO Ian Troop – billed taxpayers for minor expenses, such as parking fees and cups of tea.
But the $50-million surplus remaining after the Games’ completion means that even with the bonuses, the provincial and federal governments will be getting some money back.
The final bonuses are still being tabulated and will be handed out in the coming weeks and months.
With a report from CTV Queen’s Park Bureau Chief Paul Bliss
