The termination of high-profile employees following former Premier Alison Redford’s resignation from the position will cost Albertans more than a million dollars in severance payments, payments in lieu of benefits, and a payout of vacation balance.

On Friday morning, the Office of Premier Dave Hancock revealed a summary of the payments of termination to the Legislature.

Craig Loewen, Director of Communications and Media Relations for the Premier’s office, says the contracts in question were signed under the previous premier but admits legislature positions may require a competitive salary to attract the right people to a position which may not hold the same security as similar jons in the private sector.

“As a general statement on contracts at the Alberta legislature, these are jobs that tend to carry less security than most and contracts tend to reflect that,” said Loewen, in a released statement. “Most political contracts reflect the fact that employment prospects for anyone leaving political jobs are limited due to restrictions associated with the required six-month cooling-off period."

"The question of appropriate compensation for politically engaged senior staff is a difficult one.  We have to strike the right balance between what it takes to attract top talent while being responsible stewards of taxpayers’ dollars."

Chart courtesy: Office of the Premier

 Summary of Payments on Termination 

Office of the Premier - March 2014

Name

Title

Severance Payment

16 % in lieu of Benefits

TOTAL

Vacation Balance Payout

Adatia, Farouk

Chief of Staff

$316,274.66

$50,603.95

$366,878.61

$38,916.04

Baranski, Stefan

Director of Communications

$103,914.33

$16,626.29

$120,540.62

$15,581.09

Cunningham, Darren

Director of Operations

$92,145.56

$14,743.29

$106,888.85

$30,650.01

DiNunzio, Nicolle

Manager, Community Engagement

$5,762.05

$921.93

$6,683.98

$7,614.41

Macdonald, Matthew

Director of Planning

$84,159.84

$13,465.57

$97,625.42

$23,746.66

Richardson, Lee

Principal Secretary

$199,835.22

$31,973.64

$231,808.86

$32,593.81

Sigalet, Natalie

Assistant Director

$50,500.11

$8,080.02

$58,580.12

$12,109.35

Stables, Brad

Executive Assistant to the Premier

$22,500.03

$3,600.00

$26,100.03

$9,653.76

Wight, Hunter

Executive Director, Southern Alberta Office

$103,914.46

$16,626.31

$120,540.77

$6,600.91

 

 

The nine terminated employees will receive a total of $1,135,647.26 is severance and benefit payments, and $177,466.04 in a payout of vacation balance.

Derek Fildebrandt of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation says the salaries of Alberta's government staff have reached ridiculous levels.

"The idea that we're paying the chief of staff to the premier nearly twice as much as President Obama's chief of staff, that's got to stop," said Fildebrandt. "If you want your staff to be afraid of losing an election maybe you shouldn't guarantee them a big severance package."

The former premier’s official spokesperson and former Director of Media Relations Neala Barton refused to take a severance package – although it was written into her contract.

Barton told CTV News “I just thought it was the right thing to do for me.”

Under her contract, Barton was entitled to $67,500 in severance – she worked for Redford for about one year.

Redford officially resigned March 19, and the nine staff members mentioned in the documents were let go in the days that followed.

The former premier stepped down following growing signs of turmoil within the Conservative Party, with two MLAs crossing the floor within one week – amid accusations of bullying by the premier.

With files from CTV Edmonton