London West MPP Peggy Sattler is introducing a bill to ban the negotiation of double salary deals for those who run the province's colleges and universities.
Sattler is the NDP critic for Training, Colleges and Universities and says the bill comes in response to the release of the 2014 Sunshine List, which revealed Western University President Amit Chakma's nearly $1-million payout.
Chakma collected a double salary last year in lieu of taking a paid year off at the end of his five year contract.
The president has since voluntarily offered to return the extra $440,000, after protest and outrage from the Western University community.
Sattler says despite the decision to return the money, the deal should have never been signed in the first place, especially when those who go to those schools are struggling.
"Students are paying higher tuition in Ontario than anywhere else in Canada. Ontario students are among the fastest growing group of food bank users," Sattler tells BlackburnNews.com. "We are seeing larger and larger class sizes, we are seeing more and more classes being taught by contract faculty instead of full time professors and we are seeing grad students and teaching assistances being paid poverty level wages."
The bill would amend the Broader Public Sector Executive Compensation Act to put an end to compensation should a senior administrator choose to forego leave in their contract.
Sattler hopes all parties will support her bill to combat ballooning salaries and support students.