Report slams lavish salaries at N.L. corporation responsible for Muskrat Falls dam

The Nalcor Energy Lower Churchill Project Soldiers Pond site, pictured on June 27, 2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Daly

ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — An auditor's report says there was no business justification for the high salaries paid to executives and managers at the Newfoundland and Labrador Crown energy corporation responsible for Muskrat Falls.

The auditor general's report says that as of April 2018, top executives at Nalcor Energy each made between $139,000 and $270,000 a year more than government employees with equivalent skills and responsibilities.

The report also says Nalcor paid out approximately $1.5 million in bonuses to management between 2013 and 2018.

Nalcor was formed in 2007 to manage the province's energy assets and develop the Muskrat Falls hydroelectric project. The company was folded last year into Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro as a cost-saving measure.

Muskrat Falls is years overdue and its total cost now sits at about $13.4 billion -- nearly double the $7.4-billion price tag estimated in 2012 when it was sanctioned.

Gilbert Bennett, a former Nalcor executive who was singled out during an inquiry for hiding information from the government about Muskrat Falls, departed N.L. Hydro last month with a severance package of nearly $1 million.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 16, 2022.