One job, two expensive salaries Manitoba taxpayers on hook after premier shuffles inner circle By: Danielle Da Silva Posted: 7:00 PM CST Friday, Feb. 10, 2023

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This article was published 10/02/2023 (984 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manitobans are paying double for the provincial government’s top bureaucrat after Premier Heather Stefanson’s “refresh” of her inner circle divvied the work of the clerk of the executive council between two high-ranking public servants.

Don Leitch, the former clerk of the executive council and cabinet secretary, continues to receive the full, six-figure salary in his employment agreement, despite being demoted and taking a transitional role in the premier’s office, orders in council show.

Last month, Stefanson replaced Leitch by appointing Kathryn Gerrard, former deputy minister of economic development, investment and trade, as clerk. The premier described the shakeup as a “refresh” of government administration to better address the public’s priorities.

Leitch held the position since October 2021 and presided over Stefanson’s swearing-in. The 74-year-old had held the role from 1988 to 1999 under Progressive Conservative premier Gary Filmon.

Premier shuffles staff

The job has an annual salary of $180,600, plus $30,000 annually in recognition pay, his employment agreement stipulates.

Leitch, who has significant experience in government and public policy, was hailed as the perfect choice for the position at the time of his appointment.

Liberal Leader Dougald Lamont said the government must explain why it has hired two people to do a job previously performed by one.

“They’re paid at the top of the scale and they’ll be among the best-paid public servants in the entire province,” Lamont said, while acknowledging the job is not easy.

“It would be nice to know exactly who is running the government and what they’re being paid to do it.”

The clerk’s job is divided into three main functions: deputy minister for the premier, secretary to cabinet and head of the public service, responsible for ensuring the government continues to operate under all circumstances.

Leitch’s new, formal title is deputy minister for the president of the executive council (the premier). The appointment was made Jan. 19 and did not come with a change to compensation.

However, a spokesperson for the premier’s office said Gerrard is solely responsible for carrying out all functions of the clerk. Leitch, meanwhile, is serving Gerrard “in an interim transitional role.”

Gerrard also earns at least $189,900 annually, orders in council reveal; a new employment agreement has not yet been published.

When asked, the premier’s office would not specify Leitch’s main responsibilities as deputy minister and would not say whether the transitional role was full time. The duration of the appointment has not been made public.

Paul Thomas, University of Manitoba professor emeritus of political studies, said it is an unusual arrangement for a former clerk to stay in the executive council and to report to his replacement.

Given Leitch’s distinguished record in the public and private sectors, keeping him around while Gerrard adjusts to the job would have been seen as valuable, Thomas said.

Directing far-flung operations of government in a pre-election environment is not a good time for on-the-job training, he said.

It may have been considered disrespectful and embarrassing to send the public servant packing, the longtime political observer said.

“The premier’s office and the executive council are small, flat organizational spaces. Roles and actors overlap and intersect on a daily basis,” Thomas said. “Notionally, there maybe a division of labour in which Leitch works mainly on machinery-of-government matters while Gerrard focuses mainly on policy, and related political concerns.

“In practice, their roles will overlap and intersect in this rapidly changing, frenzied world, the centre of which is the premier’s office.”–Paul Thomas

“In practice, their roles will overlap and intersect in this rapidly changing, frenzied world, the centre of which is the premier’s office.”

Lamont said the Progressive Conservatives appear to be scrambling by their recent shuffle of administrators and cabinet ministers.

“That’s a huge problem because we’ve got problems with health care, we’ve got problems with homelessness, we’ve got problems with justice and the list goes on,” he said. “What they need is clarity and organization and it’s not clear that we’re getting that.”

The NDP did not make anyone available for comment Friday. In a statement, a caucus spokesperson accused the premier of giving up on governing.

“Instead of fixing health care, she’s two months into a damage-control campaign that offers no reassurance to Manitobans,” the spokesperson said.

danielle.dasilva@freepress.mb.ca