The former CEO of the Calgary Health Region has faced criticism for his salary and now we're finding out about his lucrative pension plan.

Jack Davis is entitled to four million dollars under a contract negotiated with the CHR.

The pension benefit has accrued since Davis started with the CHR in 1999.

Financial statements show Davis earned a $431,000 base salary last year and earned $192,000 in bonuses. His pension payment was $712,000, totaling 1.3 million dollars.

In a statement the Health Region said "the CEO's pension is less than what he would have received had he been allowed to remain in the Alberta government's Management Employee Pension Plan"

Health Minister Ron Liepert says the pension amount is in line with retirement packages given to executives in other sectors. "I don't want to make a small issue out of it; however, we need to put things into perspective. We're talking about accumulated pension benefits. We're not talking about a severance package."

Liepert says changes have been made so the Minister will have to sign contracts in the future.

Alberta Liberal MLA David Swann calls the benefit a breach of trust. "I think the Alberta Health Department should be embarrassed and I think this is unacceptable to most Albertans."

The Canadian Taxpayers Association's Scott Hennig says it's a lot of money for a CEO who racked up deficit budgets. "A CEO who's not getting results is unacceptable. You wouldn't see that in the private sector. You wouldn't see a private sector company continue to pay a CEO to lose them money."

Davis is also entitled to a severance package, but the CHR says that is still being worked out. His severance was negotiated as part of the original contract. There is speculation that the severance package could be worth upwards of one million dollars.

Davis' 1.3 million dollar contract is significantly richer than other health CEOs.

His direct counterpart in Edmonton made $915,000 and CTV News has learned she'll be taking home over two million dollars in pension money.

The manager for the city of Calgary makes $337,000 in salary and benefits.

The CEO of the Calgary Airport Authority makes a salary of $246,000.

The NDP calls Davis' payout "obscene" and says it's more than four times the industry standard.