‘No shame in the C-suite:’ Loblaw president Galen Weston got a $1.2 million raise last year earning $11.79 million
As Canadians battled soaring inflation last year, grocery executive Galen G. Weston had an easier time than most affording it.
The grocery magnate got a $1.2 million raise in 2022, bringing his total compensation to $11.79 million after consultants hired by Loblaw Cos. argued he was underpaid.
The raise, noted in a company document released this week, was part of a regular review by the company, said spokesperson Catherine Thomas.
This is not a unique pat on the back, nor a reflection of a moment in time. Loblaw's compensation review for senior executives is a standard and routine process undertaken every two years, and overseen by the company's board of directors," said Thomas. The process is designed to make sure Loblaw's compensation is competitive and in line with other retail companies, which it is."
Thomas pointed out that 40,000 Loblaw employees also got a bonus last year.
Weston is chairman and president of Loblaw Cos., as well as chairman and CEO of George Weston Ltd., a family-controlled holding company.
The results of Meridian's 2022 review suggested that Mr. Weston's total direct compensation was below the market median and Weston's and Loblaw's compensation policy objectives," the company's management proxy circular said, referring to Meridian Compensation Partners, a U.S.-based consultancy.
Thomas said much of the increase came because Weston took over as Loblaw president midway through 2021, but had the role for all of 2022.
Still, the pay package means Weston made 431 times the average grocery employee wage of $27,300, said David Macdonald, chief economist at the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. Or, put another way, Weston made roughly $5,679 an hour, Macdonald said.
In previous decades, that kind of multiple would have been frowned upon by executives, Macdonald said.
There's no shame in the C-suite today," said Macdonald. Up until the '60s and '70s, CEOs themselves would have felt shame that there was such a huge gap. When the gap was 20 or 30 times, there was a culture among top executives that you didn't want a huge spread between your pay and that of the average worker."
Wayne Hanley, president of the union local representing 25,000 Loblaw workers in Ontario, said Weston's raise shows the company is out of touch."
Executive compensation in Canada is out of control," said Hanley, president of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1006A. Extreme executive pay increases while Canadians are struggling with high grocery inflation shows that the company is out of touch."
Hanley said his members also deserve a big boost in their pay, and will be looking for it during upcoming wage negotiations.
The Loblaw board has been very generous giving Mr. Weston a 10 per cent increase - during Loblaws contract negotiations next year, our union will be demanding that the same generosity is shown to our hard-working members who make Loblaw the success it is today," said Hanley.
The CCPA's Macdonald said part of the blame for rising salaries goes to compensation consultants which advise company boards on how much - and how - to pay senior executives.
The consulting company that comes in and says you're not a very spectacular CEO and your company's doing poorly, you deserve to take a pay cut.' Those folks aren't going to get hired again next year to review the compensation of execs. So you've got an upward bias to CEO compensation generally," said Macdonald.
Meridian Compensation Partners, a U.S.-based firm hired by Loblaw, didn't respond to questions about its role in Weston's pay increase. It also didn't respond when asked how much of the time it says an executive is getting paid too much.
Metro Inc. CEO Eric Lafleche received $5.4 million in total compensation in 2022, an increase of 6.8 per cent.
Empire Co., the parent company of Sobeys, hasn't released its compensation data for 2022 yet, but in 2021, president and CEO Michael Medline made $8.65 million.