SUNSHINE LIST: 263 ag ministry employees earned more than $100,000 in 2019

No matter who’s running the show in Ontario, there’s one thing you can count on: The Sunshine List will be longer than it was last year. The annual tally of Ontario’s public servants who make more than $100,000 has increased again.

There were 166,978 Ontario public employees on the 2019 Sunshine List, meaning they each earned more than $100,000. Factor in pensions and benefits and that increases earnings by about 25 per cent, according to the Fraser Institute. The Sunshine List increased by more than 15,000 workers in one year. That’s a smaller increase, however, than in the last year of the Wynne government when the list increased by about 20,000 names.

Few new OMAFRA employees joined the Sunshine List. There were 263 ag ministry employees on the 2019 list, up from 256 in 2018 and 244 in 2017. Deputy Minister Greg Meredith was the top-earner for agriculture, taking home more than $321,000.

Maintaining his top overall spot on the list was President and CEO of Ontario Power Generation Jeffrey Lyash, who made over $938,000 last year. Those earnings, however, are substantially smaller than the $1.7 million he made in 2018.

Agriculture minister Ernie Hardeman took home a comparatively modest $182,000 and Premier Doug Ford went home with about $208,000.

Here’s how many employee in ag-related ministries, agencies and universities are included on the Sunshine list:
• University of Guelph: 1,016
• Ministry of the Environment: 606
• Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry: 510
• Ministry of Agriculture: 263
• Ontario Cannabis Retail Corporation: 36
• Agricorp: 35
• Vineland Research and Innovation Centre: 15
• OSPCA: 10
• Soil and Crop Improvement: 5
• Ontario Food Terminal Board: 3
• Agricultural Adaptation Council: 1
• Ontario Agri-Food Education: 1
• Ontario Farm Products Marketing Commission: 1
• Rural Ontario Institute: 1
• Animal Care Review Board: 0