The Americanization of Canadian Executive Compensation
Yvan Allaire | IGOPPExecutive compensation has become a nasty bone of contention in most developed societies. Whatever argument is invoked to explain and justify the large amounts paid to executives, the very public disparity of income within a given society and within the same organization turns the issue into, at best, a rallying cry for advocates of a saner society and, at worst, into an invitation to demagoguery.
The case against the level and form of executive compensation has been buttressed in the USA by the recent financial crisis when bonuses and incentive compensation are believed to have played a significant role. While Canada has managed to escape almost unscathed this crisis, the unease about executive compensation has continued to simmer; it has boiled over with the recent publication by the Canadian Center for Policy Alternatives of sensational report on the 100 best paid CEOs in Canada.
