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“There are situations where there are particular skill sets that are needed that we want to make sure we have the very best,” she said.

Wynne made her comments while making an announcement at SickKids Hospital in Toronto. That’s hospital’s CEO, Michael Apkon, made $719,694 and $20,586 in taxable benefits last year, making him the 10th highest paid public sector worker in Ontario.

“I think we’re standing in a place where we want the world’s best here,” Wynne said. “That’s quite simply what we need. We need the very, very best people in our children’s hospitals but also in our public services.”

In 2017, there were 131,741 workers on the list, up from 123,410 last year, earning salaries and benefits that total over $16.8 billion.

The $100,000 threshold for those on the list has not changed since it was introduced by then-premier Mike Harris in 1996. Wynne said she won’t be increasing the threshold because $100,000 is still a lot of money.

“We’re committed to transparency,” she said. “We think people in the province have a right to know what folks are earning and to the vast majority of people in Ontario $100,000 a year is still a lot of money. The threshold is not changing.”

The province’s second-highest earner last year was Daren Smith, president of the University of Toronto Asset Management Corporation, with a salary of $936,089. OPG’s Chief Nuclear Officer Glenn Jager ranked third on the list, making $858,445.

Hospital CEOs also ranked amongst the highest paid public servants. Along with the SickKids CEO, the CEO of Baycrest Centre For Geriatric Care in Toronto, William Reichman, made the top ten bracket, with a salary of $722,875.