'Sunshine List' law introduced to the House of Assembly

Newfoundland and Labradoris moving forward with "Sunshine List" regulations thatwill publish the names, salariesand positions of certain public-sector employees.

Names, job titles and salary breakdowns for public-sector employees earning more than $100,000 per year will be published annually as part of Bill 61, which was introduced to the House of Assembly on Monday.

It stands to reason that this information should be made available.- Cathy Bennett

The provincial government said in a news release the law will cover all government departments, and the majority of public employees including workers at Memorial University, the Newfoundland and Labrador English School District, and all of the province's health boards.

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"It's open and transparent to the people of the province, and I think we have a responsibility as a government to provide that information, as has been requested,"Finance Minster Cathy Bennett told reporters on Monday.

"It costs the provincial government $3.8 billion annually on employee salaries and benefits, or approximately 45 per cent of total expenses of $8.5 billion, so it stands to reason that this information should be made available," she added in a news release.

Unions sought order to block names

The list will be published on June 30 each year, if the law is passed in the House of Assembly. It will provide a breakdown of total compensation in the previous year, including base salary, overtime pay, bonuses and severance pay.

The provincial government wrote that if the publication of salary information "could reasonably be expected to threaten the safety or mental or physical health of an employee," the worker could apply for exclusion from the list.

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A number of public-sector unions, including the province'steachers' and nurses' unions, launched court applications this year that sought anorder againstthe release of employee names under the province's current Access to Information Act.

However, Bennett said the publication of names is tried and tested in Canada.

"Every single province that has legislation like this discloses names, and we felt it was important to be consistent with the legislation that is in place," Bennett told reporters on Tuesday.

"The fact that the legislation has stood the test of time in other provinces, we thought was important."