Winnipeg-based IGM boss an $11-million-dollar CEO

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Murray Taylor (MIKE APORIUS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS ARCHIVES) Photo Store

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Paul Soubry (WAYNE GLOWACKI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS ARCHIVES) Photo Store

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Allen Loney (JOE BRYKSA / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS ARCHIVES) Photo Store

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MTS Allstream CEO Pierre Blouin. (MIKE APORIUS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS) Photo Store

Forget the Six Million Dollar Man, Murray Taylor is the $11-million man.

The president and CEO of IGM Financial became the first-ever CEO of a publicly traded company based in Winnipeg to crack the eight-figure mark in annual total compensation. He earned a salary of $771,667 for 2010 but the biggest contribution came from his pension value, which hit nearly $9 million.

(That alone is 50 per cent more than it cost to rebuild Steve Austin, the fictitious television astronaut played by Lee Majors in The Six Million Dollar Man, who had bionic implants.)

IGM implemented a supplementary executive-retirement pension plan a year ago and Taylor's figure includes amounts credited for pre-2010 years of service, so this spike was a one-time event.

There are nine members of the seven-figure club among the CEOs of Manitoba's public companies. In second place is Rob Stenson, the late CEO of AG Growth International, who died 14 months ago but earned a total of $5.1 million, including a $291,667 salary. Next in line is the top earner from last year's list, Pierre Blouin, CEO of MTS Allstream. He brought in more than $3.8 million in total compensation, including a salary of $800,000. The rest are: Allen Loney of Great-West Lifeco at $2.7 million ($941,354 in salary); Paul Soubry, CEO of New Flyer Industries, who earned nearly $2.2 million ($653,529 in salary); George Pirie, CEO of San Gold ($1.8 million in total compensation, almost all of it in bonuses); Armin Martens of the Artis REIT ($1.5 million, exactly half of which is salary); Bruce Berry, CEO of Winpak Ltd. ($1.4 million in total compensation, $618,119 in salary); Edward Kennedy, CEO of the North West Company Fund ($666,831 in salary and $1.3 million in all); and John Langstaff, CEO of Cangene Corp., who earned a salary of $258,323 and total compensation of more than $1.2 million.

At the opposite end of the spectrum sits Cornelius Martens, CEO of All in West!, who doesn't earn a nickel in salary. Others who would appear to be living below the poverty line -- at first blush, anyway -- include Harris Liontas, CEO of Novra Technologies, who earned a total of $15,000 and Keith Levit, CEO of the Lakeview Hotel REIT, who took home $28,000.

But there's usually no need to pass the hat for CEOs who earn such salaries. Some of them own a truckload of shares of the firms they run -- and stand to make a fortune if their company's technology hits a home run -- while others earn income from other companies they run or own.

There are, of course, some notable names missing from this list. The Richardson family, for example, is well-known for its wealth (not to mention its philanthropy) but its companies are privately held. In the most recent Canadian Business magazine Rich 100 List, the Richardsons' net worth was estimated at just over $3 billion.

The salary information was pulled from management information circulars, which are released shortly before companies hold their annual shareholder meetings. (They can all be found at www.sedar.com).

In compiling this list, the Free Press used the most recent circulars. The timing varies from company to company because annual meetings are held at different times throughout the year, therefore most figures are for 2010 while a few are for 2011. It's an inexact science, to be sure.

CEOs and other executives often earn bonuses based on their companies hitting certain financial targets, such as revenue, profit or share price. Hit the minimum threshold and you're in the money. Miss it, and you'll have to make do on your salary alone.

When you consider the size of some of these outfits -- Great-West Lifeco, for example, routinely rakes in well in excess of $1 billion in profit each year for its insurance operations across North America and Europe -- paying out a million or two to the CEO doesn't put much of a dent in the company's bottom line.

geoff.kirbyson@freepress.mb.ca

How it all breaks down

CEO /  Company / Salary / Bonus / Incentive plan / Pension value / Other / Total

1. Murray Taylor - IGM Financial 771,667 336,084 837,200 8,996,566 76,856 11,018,373

2. Rob Stenson - AG Growth International $291,667 $0 $836,424 8,750 4,019,400 5,156,241 (1)

3. Pierre Blouin - MTS Allstream 800,000 1,900,001 723,180 316,000 81,489 3,820,670

4. Allen Loney - Great-West Lifeco 941,354 285,468 1,407,325 (30,164) 103,151 2,707,134

5. Paul Soubry - New Flyer 653,529 980,294 515,733 22,527 0 2,172,128

6. George Pirie - San Gold 22,055 1,805,828 0 0 0 1,827,883 (2)

7. Armin Martens - Artis REIT 750,000 0 0 0 750,000 1,500,000

8. Bruce Berry - Winpak 618,119 683,214 0 64,709 0 1,366,042

9. Edward Kennedy - North West Company Fund 666,831 1,305,000 0 (833,500) 97,907 1,236,838

10. John Langstaff - Cangene Corp. 258,323 0 893,140 30,965 40,413 1,222,841

11. Brock Bulbuck - Boyd Group Income Fund 291,700 0 499,740 66,700 0 858,140

12. Michael Pyle - Exchange Income Corp. 409,400 200,000 150,000 0 26,320 785,720

13. Rick Pauls - DiaMedica Inc. 229,165 345,790 50,000 0 0 624,955

14. Gordon Pollard/John Pollard - Pollard Banknote 578,410 0 144 31,000 0 609,564 (3)

15. Keith McMahon - Arctic Glacier Income Fund 338,367 76,201 125,643 0 14,208 554,419

16. S.J. VanRoekel - Ridley Inc. 322,428 0 175,000 11,459 12,284 521,171

17. Arni Thorsteinson - Lanesborough REIT 500,000 0 0 0 0 500,000

18. David Graves - IMRIS Inc. 400,000 0 0 0 0 400,000

19. Christopher Moreau - Miraculins Inc. 158,750 174,731 0 0 0 333,481

20. Dmitry Lyubimov - Buhler Industries 314,941 0 0 0 0 314,941 (4)

21. Donald Benson - Nordic Oil and Gas 160,000 61,625 0 0 25,000 246,625

22. K. Guy Nelson - Empire Industries 240,000 0 0 0 0 240,000

23. Albert Friesen - Medicure Inc. 195,000 0 0 0 6,000 201,000

24. Arni Thorsteinson - Temple REIT 235,000 0 0 0 0 235,000

25. Albert Cohen/James Cohen - Gendis Inc. 366,250 0 0 6,079 61,108 433,437 (5)

26. John Knowles - Wildcat Exploration 155,064 33,590 0 0 0 188,654

27. Gord Froehlich - Kane Biotech 137,458 0 0 0 0 137,458

28. Bill Baines - OMT Inc. 150,000 0 0 0 17,500 167,500

29. John Archibald - King's Bay Gold 151,500 0 0 0 0 151,500

30. Stephen Masson - Copper Reef Mining Corp. 144,000 0 0 0 0 144,000

31. Michael Romanik - Mainstream Minerals 90,000 840 0 0 0 90,840

32. Boyd Craig - Craig Wireless 36,555 0 0 0 52,307 88,862 33. Douglas Reeson Gossan Resources 0 10,350 0 0 72,000 82,350

34. Nelson Shodine - Bird River Resources 30,000 5,053 0 0 12,600 47,653

35. Kevin Zhu - Canada Nickel Mining Corp. 45,000 0 0 0 0 45,000 (6)

36. Keith Levit - Lakeview Hotel REIT 0 28,000 0 0 0 28,000

37. Harris Liontas - Novra Technologies 15,000 0 0 0 0 15,000

38. Cornelius Martens - All in West! 0 0 0 0 0 0

(1) Rob Stenson died in October 2010. Gary Anderson, president and chief operating officer, was appointed CEO in December 2010.

(2) George Pirie replaced Dale Ginn as CEO in December 2010.

(3) The CEO position is split in two at Pollard Banknote. Doug Pollard replaced Gordon Pollard as co-president and co-CEO in 2011.

(4) Dmitry Lyubimov is the president of Buhler Industries. Yury Ryananov is the CEO but he doesn't earn a salary.

(5) Albert Cohen and his son, James, shared the president and CEO roles until the elder Cohen passed away in November.

(6) Kevin Zhu is the interim CEO of Canada Nickel Mining.

(7) The CEO of FP Publications, Ron Stern, does not take a salary. He is a major stockholder in the company.

Only companies on the Winnipeg Free Press/National Bank of Canada Manitoba Index are included on the list. The executive decision was made to exclude Jovian Capital, which merged with Rice Capital Management Plus in 2003, because while it used to have significant operations in Winnipeg, the vast majority of its company is run out of Toronto. HudBay Minerals, which moved its head office to Toronto two years ago, Victory Nickel, which is based in Toronto, and Huntingdon REIT, which is run out of Vancouver, are also omitted.

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition December 28, 2011 B1