Até o Canadá entrou nessa. A Francesa Provincia de Quebec continua mantendo seu setor elétrico nas mãos do poder público, já a inglesa Ontário privatizou sua Ontario hydro que passou a se chamar Hydro One. Os escandâlos já estão rolando…
Hydro One’s $2.2M chief a woman of quiet grit
Even as a stormy debate at Queen’s Park over the utility’s executive salaries rages on, she remains characteristically silent while going about her business.
The 48-year-old executive and mother of two young children carried out her duties as chancellor at the University of Western Ontario yesterday, conferring degrees while her future at the embattled company hangs in the balance.
She is a double degree holder from the London, Ont., university, with a 1977 law degree and a 1980 MBA, and was named chancellor two years ago after vaulting to the top of Hydro One.
She had hurriedly left convocation ceremonies at midday Tuesday, when legislation was tabled by Premier Ernie Eves’ government to fire the board of directors who rewarded its senior managers with gilt-edged salaries, perks and pensions.
Clitheroe’s eye-popping $2.2 million paycheque, with a $174,000 car allowance and reputed $6 million buyout, has thrown the quietly dressed, private, devout Christian into the spotlight.
University officials weren’t surprised when she left Tuesday and issued a statement that they didn’t expect her back for the weeklong series of graduation ceremonies. They were "gratified" when she returned yesterday to don the chancellor’s black gown and congratulate social science graduates.
They hadn’t expected one of their now best-known graduates to have such nerves of steel.
Another major event, the June 12 Women of Influence luncheon at Metro Convention Centre, where she is to speak, remains firmly on her calendar.
According to former treasurer Floyd Laughren, for whom Clitheroe worked as deputy minister in the former NDP government, she’s an unflappable and tireless worker who can remain calm in the eye of the storm. "She could be tough-minded," Laughren said. "Believe me, she is no pushover."
That’s a handy trait if your hobby is ocean yachting, an exotic and risky pastime she shares with her husband of six years, retired businessman Randy Bell.
Her 12-metre cutter Endeavor III is slated to leave Newport, R.I., next week to race to Bermuda. Whether or not she makes the planned trip, she won’t be jumping ship here, insiders say.
"I think this is tearing her apart, but she’s staying there to protect the rest of the people," said Doug McCaig, chair of the Fort Francis Power Corp. and a former Hydro One director. McCaig, along with 10 others on the board, resigned in protest Tuesday only hours after the province introduced legislation that would have fired them.
"She is sitting there to make sure her staff is being taken care of in the long run," he said from his Northern Ontario home. "But there is no doubt she could go elsewhere."
Clitheroe’s actions speak volumes about the kind of person she is, said Dona Harvey, another former director.
"She’s a wonderfully warm, supportive individual who has developed tremendous loyalty among her staff and friends," she said. "I think the fact she’s indicated a willingness to stay suggests she’s certainly open to it."
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`If you had asked me who would end up earning the big bucks, it wouldn’t have been Eleanor’
Former government colleague
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On May 16, Clitheroe, an Anglican, spoke about her spiritual journey to a Royal York Hotel crowd of 800 business, government and religious leaders at the Ontario Prayer Breakfast.
Compensation expert Ray Murrill, of Watson Wyatt Worldwide, recalls that her remarks opened a window into her private life. She talked of growing up in Montreal, sailing through the Panama Canal and the challenge of having children late in life. (She has named a sailing cup for the Royal Canadian Yacht Club, where she’s a member, after Jake, who is 21/2. Faith Elizabeth is 1.)
"There was nothing about Hydro One at all. It was more about the ups and downs of life and how faith comes into it one way or the other," Murrill said.
"For a lot of us, it was quite a surprise to read the papers the next day."
They were filled with reports that Eves had announced a review of the executive compensation packages at Hydro One in the face of growing opposition pressure to justify the high salaries.
"One morning she’s doing this spiritual presentation and the next day her name is plastered all over the papers," Murrill said.
Her characteristically low profile belies Clitheroe’s professional stature. She barely registered with her professors.
"I remember the good ones and the bad ones. But I don’t remember her at all," said Donald Thain, who taught strategic management at the Richard Ivey School of Business during her stay. But he knows all about her now. "The amount of money she was paid doesn’t make sense," he said. Running a utility "is a no-brainer. There is nothing complicated about the process."
Bud Johnston, former dean of the business school, also didn’t remember Clitheroe as a student. But two years ago, when he was hired as a consultant by a Brazilian power company and was scratching around for someone to talk to at Ontario Hydro, he called her. He was charmed by her response.
"She knew of me. She was very cordial, and she invited me down and had a few of her people there," Johnston said.
Clitheroe worked in the banking industry as a bond market specialist, moving to government in 1990. She negotiated international bank loans before becoming deputy treasurer in 1992.
She was part of a cohort of talented young women actively being wooed for senior positions at the time. But insiders recall that she was not a joiner and didn’t go out for beers with the others.
The 5-foot, 2 inch Clitheroe kept to herself, didn’t swear or raise her voice no matter what, and would have been almost forgettable but for her strong work ethic and obvious abilities.
"If you had asked me who would end up earning the big bucks, it wouldn’t have been Eleanor," says a former government colleague.
Moving to Ontario Hydro in 1993 proved wise financially; Clitheroe’s income rose from $358,304 in 1995, when she was made chief financial officer, to $523,376 in 1998 as executive vice-president. She is now the $2.2 million CEO of Hydro One, and was expected to shepherd the company through an initial public share offering that was stopped by a court challenge in April.
As Clitheroe told the graduates yesterday, "Learning is a lifelong process."
Later, she conferred an honorary degree on author Pierre Berton and joined in a dignitaries’ luncheon.
If she’d rather have been sailing, no one could tell.
