Telecom CEOs rank highly on best paid Canadian execs list

“We like money, we like it Canadian and green,” Brad Shaw told the CRTC in 2010. Shaw was the top earning telecom exec in a list compiled by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.

The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives has released its annual checklist of Canada’s highest paid CEOs.

The report, called “Overcompensating: Executive Pay in Canada” points a finger at what it sees as a problematic divide between executive pay and the compensation of the average Canadian.

“By 1:18 pm on January 2” says Policy Alternatives, “Canada’s top 100 CEOs will have already pocketed $45,448. It takes the average Canadian an entire year of full-time work to earn that.” The average salary of the 100 CEOs on the list was $7.69-million. As expected, telecom talent was well represented on the list, which was topped by Magna’s Franks Stronach, whose total compensation was $40.98-million.

The top earning telecom CEO on the list, Brad Shaw, came in at number four overall. Here is where the rest of Canada’s telco bosses ranked.

4. Brad Shaw, Shaw Communications (TSX:SJR.B) Total Compensation: $15.85-million

The 48 year old Shaw took over from brother Jim two years ago and has presided over a 2012 second half run that has put the low volatility stock near decade highs.

18. Darren Entwistle Telus (TSX:T) Total Compensation: $10.19-million

The aggressive Entwistle has been magic for investors. Under his watch Telus has been a star performer, soaring from under $8 to more than $60 in a decade.

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20. George Cope, BCE (TSX:BCE) Total Compensation: $9.61-million

Nearly $10-million should put a smile on anyone’s face, but Cope was frowning in October, when The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission denied BCE’s application to acquire control of Astral Media’s television and radio services because they felt it was not in the public interest. Cope lashed out at the CRTC, calling the decision “ludicrous”.

33. Nadir Mohamed, Rogers (TSX:RCI.B) Total Compensation: $8.18-million

Like Shaw, Rogers is a low volatility stock that is near decade highs. Known as an innovator, CEO Mohamad has reduced the company’s churn rate with products such as Rogers One Number, which gives subscribers the ability to seamless switch between mobile and fixed devices.

63. John Cassaday, Corus Entertainment (TSX:CJR.B) Total Compensation: $5.22-million

Former CTV boss John Cassaday took the reigns at Shaw-spinoff Corus in 1999. The company’s stock nosedived during the financial crisis of 2008, but has since fully recovered.

80. Pierre Karl Peladeau, Quebecor (TSX:QBR.B) Total Compensation: $4.6-million

On the other side of the CRTC’s decision to block BCE’s proposed acquisition of Astral Media was Quebecor CEO Peladeau, who argued that the move would have left Canada with the unacceptable level of media concentration.

89. Louis Audet, Cogeco Cable (TSX:CCA) Total Compensation: $4.15-million

Audet has been aggressive on the M&A front, but investors are wary after the failed experiment that was the company’s Portuguese division, Cabovisao. Byron Capital analyst Rob Goff thinks the recent integration of Atlantic Broadband will be critical. He says he would like to see the company’s “exceptional domestic execution” leveraged into the US.

98. Pierre Blouin, Manitoba Telecom (TSX:MBT) Total Compensation: $3.81-million

Blouin is last on the list, but former Crown Corporation Manitoba Telecom is actually the fourth largest telecommunications provider in Canada, with more than 7000 employees.

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