What is David Chartrand's annual salary?

"What me worry?"

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Is that you "Glorian?"

Perfect caption for this photo: "What, me worry?" You'd think with all the money he rakes in he could afford some dental work .....
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Dear Anonymous:

Thank you for writing. The state of Mr. Chartrand's dentisty not withstanding you've raised a very interesting question - what is his annual salary?

A few years ago (Summer, 2001) we attempted to answer that very question. First we wrote to President Chartrand requesting the names and salaries of every MMF employee earning in excess of $50,000 annually and, of course, received no reply. Next came my MLA and Minister of Fiance Greg Selinger who replied (October 24, 2001)

Just to ensure that understanding of the Public Sector Compensation Disculosure Act is clear, a public body need only disclose compensation for individuals where that compensation for a year xceeds $50,000. Discloure of compensation for employees earning less than $50,000 is not acccessible by virtre of the Act and would have to be a voluntary disclosure on the part of Mr. Chartrand and his organization.

This was followed by letters to FIPPA (Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act - Manitoba's equivalent to the federal government's Access To Informaton Act), The Clerk of the Executive Council (i.e. the Provincial Cabinet), The Information Commissioner of Canada responsible for administration of the ATIA and in utter frustration Manitoba's Ombudsman. Talk about feeling like the proverbial Ping-Pong ball.

Lesson learned? While governments like to trumpet the various pieces of legislation they have in place to supposedly protect the democratic process and ensure public access to information, in reality they're not very user friendly.

The Manitoba Metis Federation is about a $25 million annual operation funded by Canadian taxpayers. Most comes from Human Resources and Social Development Canada plus a handfull of provincial departments. Irony of ironies? In the end an anonymous reliable source indicated President Chartrand's annual salary in those days was about $104,000 plus benefits and another $8,000 from his commercial fishing operation.

Fast fast forward to 2009. In a recent posting by Metis Blogger Derryl Sanderson (www.derrylsanderson.blogspot.com) it was stated:

President of the Manitoba Metis Federation David Chartrand reportedly earns more than the Premier! Is that right?

So what is Mr. Doer's salary. To find the answer we telephoned the Premier's Office. Go to the province's website (http://www.gov.mb.ca/):

(1) In the Search Box at the top type: Public Accounts

(2) Click on the 7th entry that appears on page 1 Financial Reports/Manitoba Finance/Province of Manitoba

(3) Financial Reports - Annual Reports
Volume 2 for the year ended March 31, 2008

(4) PUBLIC ACCOUNTS 2007-08
VOLUME 2 Supplementary Information
For the Year Ended March 31, 2008

Voila! Scroll down until you find what you want.

There you will find the salaries of the Premier, all MLAs and every Manitoba Civil Servant earning at least $50,000 indexed by Name, Department and Position Classification.

For Mr. Sanderson's edification, Premier Doer's current salary is $146,537. At another location you can also find the Dates, Description and Costs reported quarterly of each out of province trip made by Mr. Doer.

So, if Derryl Sanderson is correct, President Chartrand makes in excess of $146,537 annually.

Sincerely,
Clare L. Pieuk