TORONTO — The fire and fury that Doug Ford used to turn Hydro One and its CEO Mayo Schmidt into a lightning rod during the provincial election won’t be part of his repertoire anymore.

On Wednesday the agreement that Ford’s government entered into with the electric utility specifically banned the province from speaking ill of Schmidt.

[READ MORE: In Ford’s crosshairs, Hydro One CEO retires]

“The Province’s non-disparagement commitments shall apply to all official government publications, communications or statements (written or oral and in any medium whatsoever),” reads the agreement.

In April Ford characterized Schmidt’s potential severance package as “outrageous,” “shameful” and “absolutely disgusting,” before calling on him and the Hydro One board to resign.

Up till now Ford’s pet name for Schmidt has been “the $6-million man” in reference to his $6.2 million salary. That was the total compensation after Schmidt’s pay dramatically increased by 38 per cent between 2016 and 2017.

During the election campaign the Progressive Conservatives went so far as to organize a rally outside of Hydro One’s annual general meeting. In an email sent by Ford to his supporters he told them Hydro One executives were “going to celebrate another year of getting rich at your expense.”

[READ MORE: Hydro One calls exec pay ‘appropriate,’ Ford says it’s ‘gouging’]

The agreement references non-disparagement clauses specifically in relation to Schmidt, the board as well as to Hydro One and anyone associated with it going forward. While it limits what the government and cabinet ministers can say it maintains MPPs parliamentary privilege when speaking in the legislature.

“The Province shall not, directly or indirectly, on its own behalf or on behalf of any other person, take, engage in or authorize any action or make any statement (written or oral and in any medium whatsoever) in any official government publication, communication or statement that (i) defames, criticizes, ridicules, disparages or is derogatory or otherwise would reasonably be expected to be deleterious or damaging to any of the directors, officers, employees, agents and/or representatives of Hydro One or any other Hydro One Entity or encourages the making of such statements or the taking of such actions by someone else,” reads the agreement.

Schmidt misses severance but a big pay-out is still coming

In announcing the deal on Wednesday, Ford made a point of saying Schmidt would receive “zero” severance. However, he is still entitled to an array of retirement benefits and neither the premier nor Hydro One have responded to questions about how much that will total.

The agreement says the total will be released in the company’s next management circular which will come in 2019.

This year’s management circular suggests the payment will be in the millions of dollars. His salary and bonus will be pro-rated to his retirement date (July 11, 2018) and as of the 2018 management circular Schmidt had $7.7 million worth of equity in the company that will be paid out.

The Globe and Mail ran the numbers on all of Schmidt’s entitlements and said his final payout could total $9 million.

Government House Leader Todd Smith said the agreement is a “fantastic deal for the government and for the people of Ontario.”

“This is by far one of the best deals that a Government of Ontario has ever been able to accomplish and that’s because of the hard work of Premier Doug Ford and our team and those who are supporting us in the cabinet office,” Smith said. “It was negotiated and we are very proud of what we were able to accomplish.”

The agreement says the province has already been given the details of the total payout to Schmidt based on his “remuneration, benefits, awards and other entitlements.” That move is an attempt to insulate the company from any political blowback when the total sum is released in next year’s management circular. So far only the $400,000 lump sum retirement payment has been made public.

Other notables from Hydro One’s agreement with the province:

The board of directors will be paid out for their shares based on the June 29, 2018 share price. This is significant given that the stock price took a tumble Thursday morning, the day after the province announced the CEO was retiring and the entire board was resigning.

The deal also ensures that the compensation and contracts for all other Hydro One executives cannot be changed by the province.

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