By: Pam Wright, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Chatham Voice
Ontario’ Sunshine List is out and the earnings of 464 Municipality of Chatham-Kent employees in 2025 topped the $100,000 mark.
It makes for a grand total of nearly $62 million in spending – a sizeable chunk of the municipality’s $491-million operating budget in 2025.
Leading the pack is chief administrative officer Michael Duben with a salary of $347,276, followed by medical officer of health Dr. Shanker Nesathurai who earned $328,012 and Chatham-Kent Police Service Chief Kirk Earley who took home $283,007.
Another high public sector wage earner in C-K was Chatham-Kent Health Alliance president and CEO Adam Topp who brought home $364,500.
The other two highest salaries at the hospital in 2025 were vice-president of transformation and chief nursing executive Meredith Whitehead, earning $241,452, and Caen Suni, vice-president of clinical programs and operations who brought home $206,651.
The Public Sector Salary Disclosure Act 1996 requires organizations that receive public funding from the Province of Ontario to make public, by March 31 each year, the names, positions, salaries and total taxable benefits of employees paid $100,000 or more in the previous calendar year.
The Act applies to the provincial government, Crown agencies and corporations, Ontario Power Generation and subsidiaries, publicly funded organizations such as hospitals, municipalities, school boards, universities and colleges, and not-for-profit organizations that receive $1 million or more, or receive between $120,000 and $1 million if the provincial government funding they receive is 10 per cent or more of their gross revenues.
Rounding out the top 10 salaries at the Municipality of Chatham-Kent are: Edward Soldo; general manager of infrastructure and engineering, $255,066; Jodi Guilmette, general manager of health and human services, $246,860; Catherine Hoffman, former general manager of corporate services and human resources, $246,860 (she left the position midway through the year); Bruce McAllister, general manager development services, $246,860; Gord Quinton, chief financial officer, $246,860; Chris Case; Chief of Chatham-Kent Fire & Rescue, $236,129 and Deputy Police Chief Jason Chickowski who earned $234,414.
Chatham-Kent’s officials elected to the Ontario legislature on the list include Chatham-Kent–Leamington MPP Trevor Jones who earned $207,700, with Lambton-Kent-Middlesex MPP Steve Pinsonneault who pocketed $171,843.
At the Lambton Kent District School Board, which includes Chatham-Kent and Sarnia-Lambton, 1,074 employees took home more than $100,00 per year, costing taxpayers $142,456,528. Education director Gary Girardi topped the list, earning $261,490. Salaries of $100,000 or more at the St. Clair Catholic District School Board totalled $58,079,627 with 463 people making the list. Director of education Lisa Demers led the way earning $238,572.
Editor’s note: Several of the above positions have taxable benefit expenses attached to their jobs, but these are not listed in this article. More than 404,000 Ontarians landed on this list, which is a seven-per-cent increase over 2024.
