Alberta's Opposition leader slams UCP, for big COVID-19 bonus to Hinshaw

Alberta's Opposition N-D-P leader says the United Conservatives must bear the responsibility -- and the fallout -- for the record-setting six-figure bonus payment to the chief medical officer of health during COVID-19.

Rachel Notley says she isn't passing judgment on whether the payout to Dr. Deena Hinshaw is merited.

But she says the payout has to be set against a government that, at the same time, was trying to cut the pay of front-line health workers in collective bargaining.

The government's sunshine salary list shows that Hinshaw received a bonus of almost 228-thousand dollars for COVID-19 work in 2021 -- the highest such cash benefit payout to any provincial civil servant since the list went public.

That figure, on top of her regular salary, put Hinshaw's take-home pay at more than 591-thousand dollars.

Alberta Health has said Hinshaw was paid as per a long-standing policy and financial calculation tied to emergencies.

The payout was one of the COVID-19 bonuses paid to 107 managers totalling more than two-million dollars.