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WORTH I T?

Re CEO Pay Up 23% In 2021 At Canada’s Biggest Companies (Report on Business, July 4): CEOs are shielded from the financial stresses of ordinary Canadians. They always have been and may, in fact, have earned this unique status in society. But 23 per cent feels obscene when inflation is rampant, gas prices are skyrocketing and food insecurity is a real threat to families who never experienced it before.

CEOs may be an elite class, but they are the ones who steward their companies to pass the costs of inflation and more to the consumer, to protect their bottom lines and compensation. Should there not be some level of board governance and accountability to apply brakes on corporate greed?

Amnon Zohar Thornhill, Ont.

This economic system inordinately rewards CEOs and glorifies their monetary worth. Making the most money is acceptable and seems to be our driving force, the cost of which ignores the multiple harms and destruction to ourselves and our world.

Heidi Vamvalis London, Ont.

CEO compensation is a complex issue and clarity is often lacking, as far as the public is concerned.

Tobias Lutke of Shopify is reported to earn about $25-million. The reality is that with the price of his shares decimated, his real return has been a gigantic loss.

Many would say who cares; he is still “worth” hundreds of millions. Not so for his struggling staff.

Peter de Auer

Former director, Ontario Hydro Pension Fund; Port Hope, Ont.

When it comes to CEO rewards, the directors’ catalogue to justify hefty bonuses is often the size of an old-fashioned telephone book. Their list of reasons to hold back can be written on a cocktail napkin. Why is this? Jumps in CEO pay typically precede big hikes in director compensation.

When it comes to folks having each other’s backs, I find no more cozy a club than the boardroom.

J. Richard Finlay

The Finlay Centre for Corporate and Public Governance, Toronto

The Globe and Mail should refrain from pointing out the hefty pay raises of CEOs. It only serves to remind the rest us how much we are being left behind.

Murray Angus Ottawa

I hope all this Air Canada kerfuffle doesn’t affect CEO Michael Rousseau’s end-of-year multimillion-dollar bonus.

Terry Sherbino Penticton, B.C.

EDITORIAL

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2022-07-07T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-07-07T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://globe2go.pressreader.com/article/281762747962113

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