The Legault government plans to substantially increase the remuneration of senior executives at Hydro-Québec, which could double their emoluments, we have learned. The newspaper.
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“Salary and bonus plans are constantly reviewed by the human resources team, the CEO [Michael Sabia] and the board of directors, in order to recruit and retain the talent necessary to carry out our ambitious projects,” says Philippe Archambault, head of media and government affairs at Hydro.
“The cycle of reviewing the overall compensation of senior management has been underway for several years, therefore before the arrival of Mr. Sabia,” he adds. There is no predetermined timeline for completing it.”
In less than a year
In Bill 69 on the governance of energy resources, which Superminister Pierre Fitzgibbon presented last week, it is however written that Hydro-Québec must “submit to the government for approval” the next version of its energy policy. variable remuneration, “no later than March 31, 2025”.
Pierre Fitzgibbon in Quebec last month.
Photo STEVENS LEBLANC
The last changes to this policy date back to 2016.
According to information collected by The newspaperthe new version of the policy could result in a doubling of the remuneration of Hydro’s senior vice-presidents.
The discussions between the government and the electricity giant are taking place while the latter is in talks with its unions for the renewal of collective agreements.
“Not surprised”
“I find it special, but I’m not surprised,” comments Gilles Cazade, president of the Union of Hydro-Québec Specialists and Professionals.
Since his arrival at the helm of Hydro last summer, Michael Sabia has recruited several vice-presidents from outside the Crown corporation. The big finance boss, Maxime Aucoin, comes from the Caisse de dépôt, the human resources boss, Domenica Maciocia, from Bell and the public relations boss, Graham Fox, from Navigator.
Michel Charron
LinkedIn photo
Mr. Sabia also sought out Michel Charron at Rio Tinto to entrust him with construction projects, Joël Thibert at McKinsey (energy planning) and France Wong at BleuBlancRouge (marketing and branding).
“Top guns”
“I feel that there is a bit of the same desire as in the civil service to seek out “top guns,” laments Mr. Cazade. I very much question the fact that in Hydro’s senior management, there are so few career Hydro-Québécois.”
He adds: “If the objective [en augmentant la rémunération des grands patrons]is to go and get more “top guns” from the private sector who don’t know how it works and who lose six months while we are in a highly decisive period, I don’t see the added value for the company and for my colleagues.”
Hydro’s vice-presidents are already well paid: last year, they earned $600,000 to $840,000 while the CEO earns more than $1 million.
Remember that in 2021, the government implemented, at Investissement Québec, a “long-term investment plan” which came into force retroactively from 2019. The measure increased the annual compensation of vice-presidents from approximately $800,000 to $1 million.
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