Doug Ford’s threat to “fire” the Hydro One chief executive he calls “the $6 million man” would cost almost twice that in severance.

The Progressive Conservative leader promised Thursday to axe the board of directors and oust Mayo Schmidt, who earned $6.2 million in total compensation last year, in his “first act” if elected premier June 7.

“You can take this to the bank. The CEO is gone and the board is gone,” Ford told a campaign-style news conference at a downtown hotel.

He blamed Premier Kathleen Wynne’s government for bloated executive paycheques in the public sector and high electricity bills pinching the pockets of Ontarians.

“We need to start respecting the taxpayers. We need to start putting money back into their pocket instead of the millionaires club.”

Although Ford and Conservative MPP Todd Smith, the party’s energy critic, could not say how much their Hydro One housecleaning would cost, the company’s latest management information circular provides details.

Firing the board, using powers the provincial government retained after partially privatizing the former Crown utility, would constitute a “change of control” in Hydro One and entitle Schmidt to walk away with $10.7 million under a “double trigger” provision for a firing without cause.

Should the existing board dismiss Schmidt without cause, his payout would be $5.04 million.

Schmidt’s total pay packet is about eight times higher than the previous chief executive officer before the privatization.

Ford suggested a more appropriate annual salary would be in the range of $400,000 to $500,000, similar to what provincial hydro generating and transmission company CEOs earn in Quebec, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and British Columbia.

The PC leader deferred queries on how the Hydro One firings would take place to Smith and abruptly left the news conference after taking four questions.

It was unclear whether the province has the power to terminate the Hydro One CEO outright given that the former Crown corporation has been partially privatized.

But in defending the sale of shares to raise $9 billion for infrastructure projects and paying down electricity debt, Wynne said in 2015 “with 40 per cent ownership of the board, that would require that the people of Ontario have a say. We retain control of the removal of the board, the removal of the CEO.”

Smith had a slightly different answer.

“We don’t have the ability to go out and say we are firing the CEO at Hydro One but we certainly have the tool in our pocket to get rid of the board at Hydro One,” he told reporters.

“We’ll make it clear to the board that we’re not going to accept these kinds of salaries any longer,” he added. “It’s going to send ripples throughout the public sector.”

In a statement, Hydro One said “we will not engage in politics” and stated customers pay two cents on each monthly bill for Schmidt’s compensation, the same as before privatization.

Energy Minister Glenn Thibeault, whose government cut hydro rates 25 per cent amid public pressure last year, acknowledged the CEO’s pay packet is “a large sum” but said Ford’s promise “is only a slogan, it is not policy that will actually do anything to help anybody in the province when it comes to rates.”

“The only plan that we’ve heard from Doug Ford so far is firing people and laying off people,” Thibeault added, suggesting the PC leader’s vow to cut government spending by 4 per cent will lead to job cuts.

Ford said voters can expect to hear more from his party on that front in the coming weeks.

Thibeault compared the PC leader to U.S. President Donald Trump’s penchant for terminations.

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“The only plan that we’ve heard from Doug Ford so far is firing people and laying off people,” he said, insisting Ford’s promise to cut government spending by four per cent will lead to job cuts.

New Democrat MPP Peter Tabuns (Toronto Danforth) said his party’s long-standing policy is that heads of public agencies earn no more than twice the premier’s salary of about $209,000.

“At $6 million, Mayo Schmidt is making an awful lot of money and I don’t think it can be justified.”

The NDP has promised to buy back the province’s shares in Hydro One, but has not provided a time line on how long that would take.

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