Yves Côté, who took over the job as elections watchdog this summer, gets a substantial bump in remuneration and will be paid under a contract with the agency instead of being hired on staff.
The maximum value of his contract averages $266,115 over four years, up from the $207,500 paid in 2010-11 to his predecessor, William Corbett, who retired this summer.
The value of Côté’s contract is also close to the $288,000 earned by the agency’s top official, Chief Electoral Officer Marc Mayrand, whose salary is pegged to that of federal judges.
Côté will oversee all investigations into alleged breaches of elections rules, including the politically-charged investigations into misleading robocalls in the 2011 election.
Elections Canada says Côté’s pay is in line with rates paid to officials with a similar level of experience and expertise.
“The work of the Commissioner can vary over the time of his appointment, depending, for example, on the number of complaints received and their complexity,” said spokesperson Diane Benson in an email.
He’s paid under the contract because of his unique status within Elections Canada, she said.
“The Commissioner is neither a public service employee nor a contractor in the ordinary sense. In the exercise of his statutory duties, the Commissioner is independent from the Chief Electoral Officer.”
Because the work varies — he is usually busier after a federal election — he may not be paid the full amount of the contract, Benson said.
Under Corbett, the commissioner’s office investigated the Conservatives for illegal advertising spending in the 2006 election “in and out” scandal, which lead to the party pleading guilty in Ontario court and paying $52,000 in fines, the maximum set in law, after a protracted and expensive legal battle.
Corbett’s departure in the middle of the robocalls probe raised eyebrows but the agency insisted his retirement date had been set long before and was unrelated to the performance of his office.
The agency held a job competition for the commissioner position earlier this year, advertising for a “senior executive with significant experience in legal and/or regulatory decision making on complex and sensitive issues for a private or public sector organization” who “must be able to build and maintain effective relationships with parliamentarians, senior government officials.”
Côté had worked as associate deputy minister in the Department of Justice under minister Rob Nicholson. He had also served as a lawyer with the Judge Advocate General and, later, as ombudsman for the Canadian Forces.
Under Côté, the commissioner’s office has yet to lay a single charge for Elections Act violations, despite receiving more than 1,300 complaints from across the country and an investigation into the “Pierre Poutine” robocalls in Guelph that is now in its 17th month.
Original Article
Source: ottawa citizen
Author: GLEN MCGREGOR
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