Slapping college presidents with a failing grade on their salary proposals, Deputy Premier Deb Matthews said she also wants to send a message of restraint to the heads of universities and hospitals.

With the end of a five-year wage freeze on non-unionized public sector workers looming, some of Ontario’s 24 colleges are seeking wage hikes of up to 50 per cent for their presidents.

“The plans as posted are unacceptable,” Matthews, who is also advanced education and skills development minister, said in a letter to the colleges Thursday.

Speaking with reporters later, she warned that even though Queen’s Park will finally balance the budget this spring there remains a need to keep spending in check.

“We’ve asked college presidents and board chairs to go back to the table to rethink their proposals with more appropriate comparators,” said the minister, noting presidents’ pay should be compared with those who oversee similarly sized organizations.

Under the rejected scheme, five of the 24 presidents could be making $494,000 a year, and the lowest-paid could have earned $325,000 to run a northern college with fewer than 2,000 students.

“The ‘or else’ is until they have a compensation program that is in compliance, they remain frozen,” said Matthews.

Her salvo comes before university presidents and hospital CEOs, who already earn considerably more than their college counterparts, prepare to belly up for big raises.

“They are all looking and they are taking notice, yes,” she said firmly.

“By saying to the first sector that’s out of the gate . . . ‘this doesn’t meet the threshold, go back, do it again’ sends a signal.”

David Brook, of the College Employer Council, confirmed that “the government has sent commentary on draft executive compensation programs directly to individual colleges, board chairs and presidents.”

“I understand that individual college boards will consider government’s comments as well as the feedback received from the public,” said Brook. “It will be up to individual boards to determine next steps.”

Judy Bates, president of the Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations, said professors are “definitely concerned about the excessive compensation some senior university executives receive.”

Bates said her association was “alarmed by the amount by which Ontario’s colleges are proposing to increase their presidents’ salaries and the precedent that might set for university executives.”

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“It raises serious concerns about the effectiveness of the (compensation) framework for keeping the salaries of Ontario’s public sector executive’s reasonable. Surely some of this money would be better spent in the classroom.”

Under the colleges’ proposal, Algonquin and Mohawk presidents would have received 50 per cent pay hikes, while the heads of Centennial, Confederation, Fanshawe, Georgian and Lambton colleges would have been in line for 40 per cent raises. Those at Boreal, Cambrian, Canadore, Sheridan, Durham, George Brown and St. Lawrence colleges would have seen 30 per cent increases.