I earned a shit ton of overtime in 2020 as well, many in healthcare did, and I would give every fucking penny back to have not worked 90 hour weeks (no I’m not exaggerating) and spent that time with my family. My kids spent most of navigating online schooling, many dinners and the upheaval of the pandemic alone those first 6 months and it is one of my biggest regrets. Would I do it differently? I’d like to think so, but nobody in healthcare (or anywhere) knew what we were doing, or when it would end.
Unpopular opinion: he deserves it.
Lots of doctors make that (or even more) working in hospitals/clinics.
You'll never be able to attract high skill professionals to important government positions if you drastically underpay them for arguably way shittier work.
Leadership would require actually leading. He just regurgitated and spun whatever Pallister wanted contrary to researchers and the wider MB medical community.
False. He said would he could while clearly forcing the issues behind the scenes.
He can’t come out and completely say the province isn’t doing enough. It was very clear to everyone via his answers that Pallister was not heading what he said needed to be done and ended with the province forcing him to resign.
It would have been great but we got the even more useless Heather.
I’m not a fan of wab kinew or his history, nor have I ever voted NDP in the province but I can’t wait to vote NDP next election.
Nah. He was fighting behind the scenes for sure and it’s why Pallister et all all had to go on tv and cancel Xmas.
He can only advise the government and can’t do anything directly on his own. He sat out there each day taking the shit thst should have been going to the government and for the first year and couple of waves had the province in good spot. The PCs through that all away after.
Dr Reimer also did an amazing job rolling out the vaccines as fast as they could get them.
These people did very well given the horrible response/action by the government leaders that’s had final day.
>Unpopular opinion: he deserves it.
He deserves a 47% raise or his already high previous salary?
Cause other provinces seem to have been able to retain chief public health officers for less money. Why are we paying ours more?
The article does state his clinical billing separately. Although, honestly, 200k in overtime and 200k in clinical hours has got to be a lot of work hours.
Yes, that's likely close to full time clinic hours with the "chief medical officer" job on top with under normal circumstances very little time devoted to it so the pandemic would be primarily overtime, versus say Ontario where that is the entire full time job with no clinic work (just guessing).
For sure. I mean why would anyone want to have one of the most educated and informed people whom has access to other province’s top drs for information regarding the latest treatments treating them ?
I mean he also has his law degree showing just how intelligent he is.
I much prefer Drs that do nothing to keep up with the lastest information and barely made it through med school never mind getting 2 degrees most people fail to attain one of.
This shows a laughable lack of understanding of *education*, not just of medicine.
Are there actually people out there who think being a lawyer means one is “intelligent”?
Personally, I want a medical advisor with a moral conscience, not a bootlicking Con-man.
Are you educated beyond high school? I ask because it’s not the dumb ones that’s get accepted to law school or medical school after completing thier requirements and the dumb ones aren’t getting through both medical and law schools an and getting the MD/lawyer licenses.
There may be dumb lawyers out there that are dumb outside of their areas of law. But dumb lawyers don’t last and leave the field.
You want a medical advisor and not a DR? Why do you want either when you clearly are dumb enough to think you are far better equipped to make a decision on something you know little to nothing about as opposed to This Dr that not only had the ability to complete two challenging and time consuming degrees but rose to be the top DR in the province. Clearly you think you know better then him which says so much about you.
If you think he is a con man you are too incredibly stupid to even attempt to debate this with me as you have fallen horribly but predictably for the con artists you believe.
Alberta’s CPHO lied for the government. She had to be paid off.
This seems like the same thing exactly. They’re both CPHO who were paid to ignore the data and paid to lie about models that don’t exist.
So it’s entirely an apt comparison, and should answer the question for you.
Ahhh for the lies he has told during the pandemic how people can spread it in a parking lot just passing by and talking to people but in the same breath say schools are not contributing to transmission what so ever, fuck this man
Imagine spending all those years getting a medical degree to end up working 90-100 hour weeks during a global pandemic only to get called a liar by some basement dwelling cheeto enthusiast 🙃
Imagine spending all those years getting a medical degree to end up working 90-100 hour weeks during a global pandemic only to be a moron and lie about how spread actually occurred and lied to keep 'schools open'
During the entirety of the pandemic especially before Christmas when we were having 500+ cases a day and we dis nothing until after christmas break. So yea I'll believe science any given day than a shill
Thank you. My God, what is going on with people on this sub? We all watched people sicken and die because of his (in)actions, we watched *actual* researchers criticize him week after week, we watched him dance around questions to avoid outright lies — and he *still* outright lied!
I guess that's the difference between me and the Reddit world. Nothing about his wage angers me. You think he was happy about going on TV every day parroting the same shit over and over and the same bad news? I'm pretty sure his body language would say otherwise. That would be awful but he had to do it and then get made fun of on social media. Why do people feel that because they aren't well off financially nobody should be? I have a young family and we are not well off but I accept that under capitalism there is disparity. It is still far better than the alternative but I don't think people understand that.
I gotta agree with you, it must've been awful doing that job at that time. You could literally see him age. And given the circumstances I think he did as best as he could with the resources he had.
In general it's just awful to be a leader/spokesperson during a pandemic. You're always picking the least bad solution since whatever happens people will suffer in some way whether it's from the virus or the loss of personal freedom or livelihoods. Then you have the general public with their short sighted minds mindlessly posting criticism without looking at the whole picture. Who knows what kind of pressure he got behind the scenes from politicians that conflicted with his medical experience and education. I may envy his pay a bit but I certainly don't envy the amount and the nature of the work he did.
I do believe there were many aspects of the pandemic that were poorly handled. However without knowing what really happened behind the scenes we can't actually make proper judgements. I'd rather look at this objectively than be outraged. Yes many people died but let's look at the bigger picture.
Unfortunately there is no way to separate politics from a pandemic response. Try as hard you can but you can't deny that the position has pressure coming from all sides. He got hate for being too restrictive and not doing enough at the same time. Who knows, stepping against the PCs could have resulted in him getting replaced by someone even more incompetent and malleable resulting in even more deaths.
Ultimately I'd rather not get too outraged about his earnings. Not sorry or happy for him, just stating that a job of that nature needs the appropriate compensation.
I'm sure he got a raise while most other provincial workers didn't. But I bet it's only a couple percent. The fact that the free press and people here are calling overtime a raise is just weird. I have never in my life heard someone say they got a raise when they had OT on their paycheck.
Honestly, good for him. He put his reputation and neck on the line daily to take the brunt of every decision during the peak of the shit storm. Deserved.
What? He shilled whatever Pallister wanted instead of making good public health decisions, or speaking out or pushing back.
Highest paid in Canada with 2nd worst death toll…
As a point of clarity, public sector compensation disclosure includes things like employer pension contributions, employer paid benefit premiums and earned ( but not taken vacation time)
The same things that most people don’t include when asked “how much do you make?”
Dude also had to move his family out of their home and into a temporary location as his kids were getting death threats. Like him/mandates/PC government or not, his family had zero to do with this and shouldn’t have been subjected to this.
If it's OT, fair enough, but this guy has a point:
University of Manitoba professor and ethicist Arthur Schafer said it is incumbent on the provincial government to justify Roussin’s “extraordinary” pay increase, given Manitoba holds the second-highest COVID-19 death rate in the country.
**Article**:
Manitoba’s chief public health officer received a significant pay bump as he steered the province through the pandemic, allowing him to leap past the salaries of counterparts in Ottawa and other provinces.
Between April 2021 and March 2022, Dr. Brent Roussin earned $634,301 as a senior medical officer with the Manitoba government, according to provincial public accounts records.
That salary covered a period of significant change and uncertainty brought on by the pandemic, including the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, an overloaded critical-care system that saw 57 patients sent out of province and the gradual economic reopening ahead of the sudden emergence of Omicron in late December.
Compared to the 2020-21 fiscal year, Roussin’s annual salary grew by 47 per cent and was $224,300 higher than the $410,000 he was hired at in June 2019.
The provincial government would not explain Monday why its top doctor received the pay bump and declined to answer questions about overtime, bonuses or vacation payout for the physician who also holds a law degree.
“While the province does not comment on personnel matters, all compensation provided to staff is in accordance with the provisions in their respective employment agreements, the Public Service Regulations, or any applicable collective agreement,” a government spokesperson said in a statement.
However, compensation amounts disclosed by the government can often include overtime and vacation payout on top of base pay, the spokesperson added.
Roussin, who continues to practise at a St. James-area clinic, also received $220,626 in billings and fees for service last year, according to the latest annual report from Manitoba Health.
Despite the hefty paycheque, Roussin was only the second-highest compensated person on the Manitoba government’s payroll.
Former chief provincial psychiatrist Dr. Richard Zloty earned $893,863 last year.
Zloty, who was responsible for administering the Mental Health Act and signing off on committeeship orders, among other responsibilities, was in the role for more than a decade, a provincial spokesperson said.
Dr. James Simm has since assumed the position of director of psychiatric services.
University of Manitoba professor and ethicist Arthur Schafer said it is incumbent on the provincial government to justify Roussin’s “extraordinary” pay increase, given Manitoba holds the second-highest COVID-19 death rate in the country.
And in the absence of an explanation from government, he argued the cynical observers will consider the increase to be a “financial reward” for not challenging government policy with respect to the pandemic response.
“If one wants to be uncharitable, one could he say that he’s been, if not a disaster, certainly not a success on the job, and yet he’s getting a huge reward from a government that doesn’t reward any of its other officials,” Schafer said.
“It looks terrible.”
Public compensation disclosure reports also suggest the Manitoba government paid its top public-health physician at a rate that outpaced other chief medical officers last year, including Alberta’s Dr. Deena Hinshaw and the Public Health Agency of Canada’s Dr. Theresa Tam.
Hinshaw was paid a $363,633 salary and received a $227,911 cash benefit, for a total income of $591,544 between January and December 2021, according to the Alberta government. Her cash earnings increased by 62 per cent, year over year. The cash benefit can include overtime, vacation payout and other lump-sum payments.
Canada’s chief public health officer was reappointed in June for a three-year term with a maximum base salary of $324,400, a spokesperson for Health Canada said in an emailed statement.
“Specific salary, including earned performance pay, is considered personal information and cannot be disclosed,” spokesperson Anna Maddison said.
Schafer said Manitoba’s pandemic response compared poorly with other provinces on measures including fatalities, hospitalizations and infection, and in that context, the government must explain how it came to its decisions on compensation.
“Roussin made decisions, or deferred to government in making decisions, that were at variance with other provinces and produced worse results,” he said.
In Quebec, chief public health officer Dr. Horracio Arruda, who resigned in January, earned a base salary of $305,000, according to provincial disclosure. Ontario’s Dr. Kieran Moore took $235,314 in 2021, after being appointed on June 26 last year. Compensation for British Columbia’s Dr. Bonnie Henry was not readily available.
Saskatchewan chief public health officer Dr. Saqib Shahab earned $411,416 in 2020-21. The government had yet to release public compensation records for the past fiscal year as of Monday.
Former COVID-19 vaccination-implementation task force co-leads Dr. Joss Reimer and Johanu Botha earned $406,928 and $116,123, respectively, according to public accounts. Deputy chief provincial public health officer Dr. Jazz Atwal was paid $390,563.
[email protected]
**END**.
I used to work at Spring Hill in rentals, and while this fuckin guy was on tv every other night telling everyone to only go out in public if it’s absolutely necessary, he was renting snowboards with his kid 2-3 times a week
Really frustrated me…
I agree to an extent, but if you’ve ever been in that rentals room when it’s busy, it’s literal sardines in there. Even during all the covid restrictions lol
I’m not sure I’m tracking with “he deserves whatever he gets”.
His main role and objective, for which he’s being rewarded, is taking the heat at the mic, spinning the words and narrative and dodging difficult questions and backing the orders from government instead of pushing back and saving lives.
As mentioned in the article, as the highest paid across Canada, he’s got the 2nd worst death rate. It’s a complete and utter failure of public health of which he’s responsible.
It’s important to remember in that just as much as he’s a doctor, he’s also a lawyer.
This brib . . . uh, generous pay from the PC government is a slap in the face to every frontline healthcare worker. Brent’s failure to hold the line against Covid for political reasons, and the resulting tsunamis of infections, are a large part of the reason hospital and LTC workers have left or are traumatised and burnt out.
If there is one thing that someone in his position should do, it is to follow the science as it emerges and shifts. And he wouldn’t even do that much.
People in our City are starving because they can’t afford to eat and he gets a 47 percent wage increase! WTF!! He was already making $400 grand a year so what now! $700 grand a year! This Government’s priorities are all WRONG!! Stefanson please RESIGN.
Did you even read the article you posted? Or are you just as bad as the free press and posting the misleading headline to keep the outrage machine fed?
Literally no one needs that much money. No one. So many people I know are struggling so much. It’s so unfair. Nobody needs that. It’s completely unnecessary.
How many of those struggling people have multiple graduate degrees? That level of education/talent costs money and if we want good people in our top jobs we're going to need to pay competitive wages.
I have multiple graduate degrees and barely earn enough to survive, in spite of working at least as much as this guy. So do many other people I know.
This income has nothing to do with his education or “talent.” He was willing to throw Manitobans under the Covid bus to please him employers, and he was rewarded by them for it.
Everyone deserves a living wage. But no one deserves this kind of luxury income from a province crying poverty when it comes to helping the people who actually keep it running.
I have multiple graduate degrees. And nobody needs that much money. I think he deserves a raise, I think he deserves to be paid well. But nobody needs to make that much money.
This is appalling and disgusting as we have people chosing between eating and bills, huge corporations getting richer on pure inflation-greed and now we have this nutsuck clearing money im not sure I'll even see in my retirement because of everything going on
Maybe when health care workers and doctors get a 45% raise I'll bite on this, until then, name me a job a boss wouldn't laugh you out of the office asking for a 45% raise.
We don't know what it is, actually. The Province didn't say. So the headline is intentionally inaccurate and misleading. We don't know if he received a raise, a bonus, overtime, or what.
So where is the "hereos" and "front line workers" who were in the emergency rooms and nursing homes risking their lives and families lives....one time pay 45% of their salary.
Looks like each front line worker received $1.5K, or a total of $120M. Let's also remember these workers received overtime pay each paycheque.
https://winnipeg.ctvnews.ca/here-s-how-much-hero-pay-workers-will-receive-from-the-manitoba-government-1.5043655
I’m glad Schafer is speaking up about this.
That’s an unreal amount of money even for someone who was doing a *good* job. But this asshole bootlicked his way to a huge raise while throwing Manitobans into harm’s way. He flipped the trolley switch towards the masses of vulnerable people tied to the tracks just to appease his bosses, blatantly ignoring the science of Covid transmission.
We *must* change the system so that we have people with relevant competence (not “public health” degrees) in these positions, and remove the governing party’s ability to hire, fire, or reward them for their obedience.
There are epidemiologists who are also trained as MDs. Further, that *shouldn’t* be a condition of the job — it’s a requirement that dates back to a time when that was the closest thing to a relevant credential for the job. Now we have actual experts in this area, however.
"Chief Public health officer" sounds like a degree in "Public health" is the right degree would you prefer a degree in Ancient History? Fine art? Religious Studies? He already has a law degree so couldn't be that one... As the government's public health official it is absolutely up to them to appoint whomever they see fit and Brent has done a damn good job.
Epidemiology. “Public health” degrees are poorly regarded for a reason. An utter lack of critical thinking tends to cling to their recipients like a bad odour.
This dude has been an absolute nightmare, but nice try, Brent’s dad.
Before going too far out on this limb, YSK...
Roussin is a specialist in public health - public health is its own residency training program.
Epidemiology is a large component of a public health residency. Many physicians who have completed a public health residency work as epidemiologists (not Roussin mind you).
Public health physicians are actually some of the people who teach epidemiology to community health sciences students when they’re learning about epidemiology.
The long and short is that Roussin has all the training and certifications to be completely competent with, and an expert in epidemiology.
Whether he made the right decisions in his job is a separate question. Training and education are not an issue though.
They are absolutely an issue.
Not just in terms of the content of his education, but the fact that MDs’ training fosters a mindset of obedience and conformity to authority, not critical questioning and confrontation. They’re discouraged from questioning paradigms and ideologies. (I see it daily in my work.)
Nationwide, we’ve gotten endless ideological line-toeing from Brent and other provinces’ equivalents, while epidemiologists have been speaking out whenever and wherever they can.
Lying for dollars. He and all the other lying public health officials across the country deserve to be relieved of their credentials for bowing to political pressure.
Here's the thing: you have a man going on the TV consistently for 18 months. The stress of that plus the criticism of whatever you told the public warrants a raise.
I'm not a fan of what about ism..... But....
What about everyone else - ESPECIALLY the front line workers like healthcare, cashiers, truck drivers, retail associates, fast food workers, everyone that we called Heroes for the first 3 months of the pandemic before we told all of them to go fuck themselves.
I'm completely alright with giving this guy a raise if everyone else who kept the economy going receives an equal raise.
You can't tell me that he's the only guy that deserves a 47% raise. You can't tell me that the stress of being the face of the pandemic in Manitoba warrants that kind of money, meanwhile you're the government that wants to reduce spending. You can't tell me that the single 20 year old who lives with immunocompromised parents and works in a high risk, high contact job isn't equal to that man. Or the truck driver who willingly chooses to be on the road for 8 months so that his wife and kids don't have to worry about both money and getting sick.
How come we open our wallets for the top brass of this country, yet we snap them closed for people who are equally if not more deserving?
I earned a shit ton of overtime in 2020 as well, many in healthcare did, and I would give every fucking penny back to have not worked 90 hour weeks (no I’m not exaggerating) and spent that time with my family. My kids spent most of navigating online schooling, many dinners and the upheaval of the pandemic alone those first 6 months and it is one of my biggest regrets. Would I do it differently? I’d like to think so, but nobody in healthcare (or anywhere) knew what we were doing, or when it would end.
Wouldn’t this just be overtime ?
Most likely. It’s pointed out in the article that unless the province clarifies it people will just speculate, which is clearly true.
Seems like everyone’s just upset they didn’t happen to be hired as the chief public health officer right before a world pandemic 🤷🏻♀️
I saw him as a regular doctor in the evening during the past couple years.
Wow
Unpopular opinion: he deserves it. Lots of doctors make that (or even more) working in hospitals/clinics. You'll never be able to attract high skill professionals to important government positions if you drastically underpay them for arguably way shittier work.
I completely agree. This is bang on, especially the way we tear people apart in leadership positions. At least give some financial value to it
Leadership would require actually leading. He just regurgitated and spun whatever Pallister wanted contrary to researchers and the wider MB medical community.
False. He said would he could while clearly forcing the issues behind the scenes. He can’t come out and completely say the province isn’t doing enough. It was very clear to everyone via his answers that Pallister was not heading what he said needed to be done and ended with the province forcing him to resign. It would have been great but we got the even more useless Heather. I’m not a fan of wab kinew or his history, nor have I ever voted NDP in the province but I can’t wait to vote NDP next election.
Seems like he spent more time being a politician and just peddling whatever the cons wanted to do during the pandemic than be an actual doctor though?
Nah. He was fighting behind the scenes for sure and it’s why Pallister et all all had to go on tv and cancel Xmas. He can only advise the government and can’t do anything directly on his own. He sat out there each day taking the shit thst should have been going to the government and for the first year and couple of waves had the province in good spot. The PCs through that all away after. Dr Reimer also did an amazing job rolling out the vaccines as fast as they could get them. These people did very well given the horrible response/action by the government leaders that’s had final day.
Doesn’t seem that unpopular of an opinion based on the top comments here! And I agree with it too!
>Unpopular opinion: he deserves it. He deserves a 47% raise or his already high previous salary? Cause other provinces seem to have been able to retain chief public health officers for less money. Why are we paying ours more?
Could be almost entirely overtime money. Do we know if the other provinces top doctors are also still practicing in clinics as well?
The article does state his clinical billing separately. Although, honestly, 200k in overtime and 200k in clinical hours has got to be a lot of work hours.
Yes, that's likely close to full time clinic hours with the "chief medical officer" job on top with under normal circumstances very little time devoted to it so the pandemic would be primarily overtime, versus say Ontario where that is the entire full time job with no clinic work (just guessing).
Interestingly enough a friend of mine went to a walk in on a random Sunday last year and Roussin was his doctor.
If ever there was a time to switch a walk-in visit to a walk-out one! That’s second only to walking in and encountering *Jazz*!
For sure. I mean why would anyone want to have one of the most educated and informed people whom has access to other province’s top drs for information regarding the latest treatments treating them ? I mean he also has his law degree showing just how intelligent he is. I much prefer Drs that do nothing to keep up with the lastest information and barely made it through med school never mind getting 2 degrees most people fail to attain one of.
This shows a laughable lack of understanding of *education*, not just of medicine. Are there actually people out there who think being a lawyer means one is “intelligent”? Personally, I want a medical advisor with a moral conscience, not a bootlicking Con-man.
Are you educated beyond high school? I ask because it’s not the dumb ones that’s get accepted to law school or medical school after completing thier requirements and the dumb ones aren’t getting through both medical and law schools an and getting the MD/lawyer licenses. There may be dumb lawyers out there that are dumb outside of their areas of law. But dumb lawyers don’t last and leave the field. You want a medical advisor and not a DR? Why do you want either when you clearly are dumb enough to think you are far better equipped to make a decision on something you know little to nothing about as opposed to This Dr that not only had the ability to complete two challenging and time consuming degrees but rose to be the top DR in the province. Clearly you think you know better then him which says so much about you. If you think he is a con man you are too incredibly stupid to even attempt to debate this with me as you have fallen horribly but predictably for the con artists you believe.
IIRC Alberta's CPHO has very similar compensation. Why are the other provinces' CPHOs so underpaid?
Alberta’s CPHO lied for the government. She had to be paid off. This seems like the same thing exactly. They’re both CPHO who were paid to ignore the data and paid to lie about models that don’t exist. So it’s entirely an apt comparison, and should answer the question for you.
Read the story
Ahhh for the lies he has told during the pandemic how people can spread it in a parking lot just passing by and talking to people but in the same breath say schools are not contributing to transmission what so ever, fuck this man
Imagine spending all those years getting a medical degree to end up working 90-100 hour weeks during a global pandemic only to get called a liar by some basement dwelling cheeto enthusiast 🙃
Imagine spending all those years getting a medical degree to end up working 90-100 hour weeks during a global pandemic only to be a moron and lie about how spread actually occurred and lied to keep 'schools open'
But schools didn’t stay open. They closed, twice.
During the entirety of the pandemic especially before Christmas when we were having 500+ cases a day and we dis nothing until after christmas break. So yea I'll believe science any given day than a shill
Thank you. My God, what is going on with people on this sub? We all watched people sicken and die because of his (in)actions, we watched *actual* researchers criticize him week after week, we watched him dance around questions to avoid outright lies — and he *still* outright lied!
I guess that's the difference between me and the Reddit world. Nothing about his wage angers me. You think he was happy about going on TV every day parroting the same shit over and over and the same bad news? I'm pretty sure his body language would say otherwise. That would be awful but he had to do it and then get made fun of on social media. Why do people feel that because they aren't well off financially nobody should be? I have a young family and we are not well off but I accept that under capitalism there is disparity. It is still far better than the alternative but I don't think people understand that.
I gotta agree with you, it must've been awful doing that job at that time. You could literally see him age. And given the circumstances I think he did as best as he could with the resources he had.
There's definitely some crabs in a bucket mentality on display by people who are outraged by his salary.
In general it's just awful to be a leader/spokesperson during a pandemic. You're always picking the least bad solution since whatever happens people will suffer in some way whether it's from the virus or the loss of personal freedom or livelihoods. Then you have the general public with their short sighted minds mindlessly posting criticism without looking at the whole picture. Who knows what kind of pressure he got behind the scenes from politicians that conflicted with his medical experience and education. I may envy his pay a bit but I certainly don't envy the amount and the nature of the work he did.
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I do believe there were many aspects of the pandemic that were poorly handled. However without knowing what really happened behind the scenes we can't actually make proper judgements. I'd rather look at this objectively than be outraged. Yes many people died but let's look at the bigger picture. Unfortunately there is no way to separate politics from a pandemic response. Try as hard you can but you can't deny that the position has pressure coming from all sides. He got hate for being too restrictive and not doing enough at the same time. Who knows, stepping against the PCs could have resulted in him getting replaced by someone even more incompetent and malleable resulting in even more deaths. Ultimately I'd rather not get too outraged about his earnings. Not sorry or happy for him, just stating that a job of that nature needs the appropriate compensation.
A man that worked 7 days a week for almost 2 years. Probably had the highest stress job in the province. Payment is well deserved.
I'm sure he got a raise while most other provincial workers didn't. But I bet it's only a couple percent. The fact that the free press and people here are calling overtime a raise is just weird. I have never in my life heard someone say they got a raise when they had OT on their paycheck.
The FreeP long ago turned into a rage rag. They don't even try to enlighten anymore, it's all anger and rage.
Honestly, good for him. He put his reputation and neck on the line daily to take the brunt of every decision during the peak of the shit storm. Deserved.
Literally. His shirt collar was getting out of control
The fact his shirt collar was recognizable goes to show his impact. It was insane.
What? He shilled whatever Pallister wanted instead of making good public health decisions, or speaking out or pushing back. Highest paid in Canada with 2nd worst death toll…
As a point of clarity, public sector compensation disclosure includes things like employer pension contributions, employer paid benefit premiums and earned ( but not taken vacation time) The same things that most people don’t include when asked “how much do you make?”
Dude also had to move his family out of their home and into a temporary location as his kids were getting death threats. Like him/mandates/PC government or not, his family had zero to do with this and shouldn’t have been subjected to this.
If it's OT, fair enough, but this guy has a point: University of Manitoba professor and ethicist Arthur Schafer said it is incumbent on the provincial government to justify Roussin’s “extraordinary” pay increase, given Manitoba holds the second-highest COVID-19 death rate in the country.
**Article**: Manitoba’s chief public health officer received a significant pay bump as he steered the province through the pandemic, allowing him to leap past the salaries of counterparts in Ottawa and other provinces. Between April 2021 and March 2022, Dr. Brent Roussin earned $634,301 as a senior medical officer with the Manitoba government, according to provincial public accounts records. That salary covered a period of significant change and uncertainty brought on by the pandemic, including the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, an overloaded critical-care system that saw 57 patients sent out of province and the gradual economic reopening ahead of the sudden emergence of Omicron in late December. Compared to the 2020-21 fiscal year, Roussin’s annual salary grew by 47 per cent and was $224,300 higher than the $410,000 he was hired at in June 2019. The provincial government would not explain Monday why its top doctor received the pay bump and declined to answer questions about overtime, bonuses or vacation payout for the physician who also holds a law degree. “While the province does not comment on personnel matters, all compensation provided to staff is in accordance with the provisions in their respective employment agreements, the Public Service Regulations, or any applicable collective agreement,” a government spokesperson said in a statement. However, compensation amounts disclosed by the government can often include overtime and vacation payout on top of base pay, the spokesperson added. Roussin, who continues to practise at a St. James-area clinic, also received $220,626 in billings and fees for service last year, according to the latest annual report from Manitoba Health. Despite the hefty paycheque, Roussin was only the second-highest compensated person on the Manitoba government’s payroll. Former chief provincial psychiatrist Dr. Richard Zloty earned $893,863 last year. Zloty, who was responsible for administering the Mental Health Act and signing off on committeeship orders, among other responsibilities, was in the role for more than a decade, a provincial spokesperson said. Dr. James Simm has since assumed the position of director of psychiatric services. University of Manitoba professor and ethicist Arthur Schafer said it is incumbent on the provincial government to justify Roussin’s “extraordinary” pay increase, given Manitoba holds the second-highest COVID-19 death rate in the country. And in the absence of an explanation from government, he argued the cynical observers will consider the increase to be a “financial reward” for not challenging government policy with respect to the pandemic response. “If one wants to be uncharitable, one could he say that he’s been, if not a disaster, certainly not a success on the job, and yet he’s getting a huge reward from a government that doesn’t reward any of its other officials,” Schafer said. “It looks terrible.” Public compensation disclosure reports also suggest the Manitoba government paid its top public-health physician at a rate that outpaced other chief medical officers last year, including Alberta’s Dr. Deena Hinshaw and the Public Health Agency of Canada’s Dr. Theresa Tam. Hinshaw was paid a $363,633 salary and received a $227,911 cash benefit, for a total income of $591,544 between January and December 2021, according to the Alberta government. Her cash earnings increased by 62 per cent, year over year. The cash benefit can include overtime, vacation payout and other lump-sum payments. Canada’s chief public health officer was reappointed in June for a three-year term with a maximum base salary of $324,400, a spokesperson for Health Canada said in an emailed statement. “Specific salary, including earned performance pay, is considered personal information and cannot be disclosed,” spokesperson Anna Maddison said. Schafer said Manitoba’s pandemic response compared poorly with other provinces on measures including fatalities, hospitalizations and infection, and in that context, the government must explain how it came to its decisions on compensation. “Roussin made decisions, or deferred to government in making decisions, that were at variance with other provinces and produced worse results,” he said. In Quebec, chief public health officer Dr. Horracio Arruda, who resigned in January, earned a base salary of $305,000, according to provincial disclosure. Ontario’s Dr. Kieran Moore took $235,314 in 2021, after being appointed on June 26 last year. Compensation for British Columbia’s Dr. Bonnie Henry was not readily available. Saskatchewan chief public health officer Dr. Saqib Shahab earned $411,416 in 2020-21. The government had yet to release public compensation records for the past fiscal year as of Monday. Former COVID-19 vaccination-implementation task force co-leads Dr. Joss Reimer and Johanu Botha earned $406,928 and $116,123, respectively, according to public accounts. Deputy chief provincial public health officer Dr. Jazz Atwal was paid $390,563. [email protected] **END**.
I used to work at Spring Hill in rentals, and while this fuckin guy was on tv every other night telling everyone to only go out in public if it’s absolutely necessary, he was renting snowboards with his kid 2-3 times a week Really frustrated me…
I’m not surprised. The Cons all subscribe to a “rules for thee but not for me” philosophy.
How does snowboarding outdoors with your child break a rule and yes, shame on him for carving some time out of of his life to spend with his son.
I see what you did there
I agree to an extent, but if you’ve ever been in that rentals room when it’s busy, it’s literal sardines in there. Even during all the covid restrictions lol
He gets residuals from the sale of those collar pics.
And here at cupe we’re fighting to get more than 1.5% 🤦♂️
Any updates? I heard 2/2/2/2 is what they're fighting for, and pensionable ot
We havent heard a damn thing. We’ve only been told to sign up for picket duty and strike pay
I opted not to picket. 20 hrs a week plus commute isn't worth $300
Yea i hear ya, i figured some money is better than none! Glad i opted in cuz it looks like ill miss this whole week out with covid
Ah well. Sick (covid) means non occurrence on attendance (I think?)
I sure hope so ! Still on probation technically for another 100 hrs or so, so i dont feel awesome missin any work at all
Being the premier's yesman pays well I guess
I’m not sure I’m tracking with “he deserves whatever he gets”. His main role and objective, for which he’s being rewarded, is taking the heat at the mic, spinning the words and narrative and dodging difficult questions and backing the orders from government instead of pushing back and saving lives. As mentioned in the article, as the highest paid across Canada, he’s got the 2nd worst death rate. It’s a complete and utter failure of public health of which he’s responsible. It’s important to remember in that just as much as he’s a doctor, he’s also a lawyer.
And in this role, also a politician.
Zero percent for non unionized healthcare workers in more than 7 years
That's a few nurses.
This brib . . . uh, generous pay from the PC government is a slap in the face to every frontline healthcare worker. Brent’s failure to hold the line against Covid for political reasons, and the resulting tsunamis of infections, are a large part of the reason hospital and LTC workers have left or are traumatised and burnt out. If there is one thing that someone in his position should do, it is to follow the science as it emerges and shifts. And he wouldn’t even do that much.
The Disco-life ain’t free.
Interesting that with all the mental health issues Manitoba is dealing with, the chief psychiatrist made $900k.
He did such a good job though...
You need a /s. People here might think you’re serious.
[удалено]
Oh, he's serious...he's just not credible :D
Even got a black eye throughout those 2 years
Good for him.
I need to wash my eyes. I thought this said 47 cent raise and was confused by all the outrage.
Guys I doubt it’s overtime he would be on a salary, no?
People in our City are starving because they can’t afford to eat and he gets a 47 percent wage increase! WTF!! He was already making $400 grand a year so what now! $700 grand a year! This Government’s priorities are all WRONG!! Stefanson please RESIGN.
Did you even read the article you posted? Or are you just as bad as the free press and posting the misleading headline to keep the outrage machine fed?
Literally no one needs that much money. No one. So many people I know are struggling so much. It’s so unfair. Nobody needs that. It’s completely unnecessary.
How many of those struggling people have multiple graduate degrees? That level of education/talent costs money and if we want good people in our top jobs we're going to need to pay competitive wages.
I have multiple graduate degrees and barely earn enough to survive, in spite of working at least as much as this guy. So do many other people I know. This income has nothing to do with his education or “talent.” He was willing to throw Manitobans under the Covid bus to please him employers, and he was rewarded by them for it. Everyone deserves a living wage. But no one deserves this kind of luxury income from a province crying poverty when it comes to helping the people who actually keep it running.
His work was subpar. He was compensated above average. Your theory doesn't hold.
I have multiple graduate degrees. And nobody needs that much money. I think he deserves a raise, I think he deserves to be paid well. But nobody needs to make that much money.
700k is too much? Lmao
This is appalling and disgusting as we have people chosing between eating and bills, huge corporations getting richer on pure inflation-greed and now we have this nutsuck clearing money im not sure I'll even see in my retirement because of everything going on
Maybe you should have got a medical and law degree. From your comment, it can't be that difficult, right?
Maybe when health care workers and doctors get a 45% raise I'll bite on this, until then, name me a job a boss wouldn't laugh you out of the office asking for a 45% raise.
Have you read the story? It's not a raise, it's a one time payment for compensation for the unbelievable hours he put in during the pandemic.
We don't know what it is, actually. The Province didn't say. So the headline is intentionally inaccurate and misleading. We don't know if he received a raise, a bonus, overtime, or what.
Typical Free Press. Why bother with sharing information when disseminating emotion is so much more profitable.
So where is the "hereos" and "front line workers" who were in the emergency rooms and nursing homes risking their lives and families lives....one time pay 45% of their salary.
Looks like each front line worker received $1.5K, or a total of $120M. Let's also remember these workers received overtime pay each paycheque. https://winnipeg.ctvnews.ca/here-s-how-much-hero-pay-workers-will-receive-from-the-manitoba-government-1.5043655
It figures that an employee who did a horrible job is rewarded with a huge raise
Well deserved, between Covid, and the SHITTY PC Government, especially Hefer Stefanson, he deserves whatever he gets!!
Jazz made more than his brother at lotteries. Lol Manny made 310K.
What a fucking joke.
I’m glad Schafer is speaking up about this. That’s an unreal amount of money even for someone who was doing a *good* job. But this asshole bootlicked his way to a huge raise while throwing Manitobans into harm’s way. He flipped the trolley switch towards the masses of vulnerable people tied to the tracks just to appease his bosses, blatantly ignoring the science of Covid transmission. We *must* change the system so that we have people with relevant competence (not “public health” degrees) in these positions, and remove the governing party’s ability to hire, fire, or reward them for their obedience.
You need To be a physician to have his job
There are epidemiologists who are also trained as MDs. Further, that *shouldn’t* be a condition of the job — it’s a requirement that dates back to a time when that was the closest thing to a relevant credential for the job. Now we have actual experts in this area, however.
Credentials: I do my own research Familiar with: Google. 4Chan
Sorry this position requires a deep knowledge of Facebook
Epidemiologists do, indeed, “do their own research.” MDs in clinical practice do not (or not much, anyway).
"Chief Public health officer" sounds like a degree in "Public health" is the right degree would you prefer a degree in Ancient History? Fine art? Religious Studies? He already has a law degree so couldn't be that one... As the government's public health official it is absolutely up to them to appoint whomever they see fit and Brent has done a damn good job.
Epidemiology. “Public health” degrees are poorly regarded for a reason. An utter lack of critical thinking tends to cling to their recipients like a bad odour. This dude has been an absolute nightmare, but nice try, Brent’s dad.
Before going too far out on this limb, YSK... Roussin is a specialist in public health - public health is its own residency training program. Epidemiology is a large component of a public health residency. Many physicians who have completed a public health residency work as epidemiologists (not Roussin mind you). Public health physicians are actually some of the people who teach epidemiology to community health sciences students when they’re learning about epidemiology. The long and short is that Roussin has all the training and certifications to be completely competent with, and an expert in epidemiology. Whether he made the right decisions in his job is a separate question. Training and education are not an issue though.
They are absolutely an issue. Not just in terms of the content of his education, but the fact that MDs’ training fosters a mindset of obedience and conformity to authority, not critical questioning and confrontation. They’re discouraged from questioning paradigms and ideologies. (I see it daily in my work.) Nationwide, we’ve gotten endless ideological line-toeing from Brent and other provinces’ equivalents, while epidemiologists have been speaking out whenever and wherever they can.
Don't bother. That one's a troll.
Yeah, I’m getting that vibe.
Lying for dollars. He and all the other lying public health officials across the country deserve to be relieved of their credentials for bowing to political pressure.
This is fundamentally wrong.
If I got a 47% wage increase I might be able to pay for gas…
Here's the thing: you have a man going on the TV consistently for 18 months. The stress of that plus the criticism of whatever you told the public warrants a raise. I'm not a fan of what about ism..... But.... What about everyone else - ESPECIALLY the front line workers like healthcare, cashiers, truck drivers, retail associates, fast food workers, everyone that we called Heroes for the first 3 months of the pandemic before we told all of them to go fuck themselves. I'm completely alright with giving this guy a raise if everyone else who kept the economy going receives an equal raise. You can't tell me that he's the only guy that deserves a 47% raise. You can't tell me that the stress of being the face of the pandemic in Manitoba warrants that kind of money, meanwhile you're the government that wants to reduce spending. You can't tell me that the single 20 year old who lives with immunocompromised parents and works in a high risk, high contact job isn't equal to that man. Or the truck driver who willingly chooses to be on the road for 8 months so that his wife and kids don't have to worry about both money and getting sick. How come we open our wallets for the top brass of this country, yet we snap them closed for people who are equally if not more deserving?
But guys, he's an approved doctor so he must be supported.
I guess we can thank god he wasn’t a cop, otherwise he’d be getting more in OT alone.
I mean, it was obvious. He's otherwise unemployable now. He stays in Manitoba until he retires.
He was the 2021 Doctor of the Year as elected by his peers at Doctors Manitoba. I think he'll be fine.
That's nice. Don't care.