Sask Pool pays out former officials

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Published: December 23, 1999

Saskatchewan Wheat Pool paid two former employees more than $1.6 million in compensation after one was dismissed and the other was asked to resign. The payment is in addition to their regular wages earned up until their dismissal in June.

The board of directors approved the financial settlements with former chief executive officer Don Loewen and former executive vice-president of the grain group Bruce Johnson at a meeting last week.

The documents were made public Dec. 20 as part of the company’s annual filings.

According to those documents, Loewen received $1,093,275 in compensation. It included $935,160 in severance, $150,751 for vacation pay and $7,364 in a company pension plan contribution.

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As part of the agreement, Loewen will continue to accrue service at his departing salary until July 22, 2001, which will affect his retirement income.

Loewen’s regular annual salary in 1999 was $423,684.

Johnson received $570,789, including $485,915 in severance, $77,510 for vacation pay and $7,364 in his pension.

His regular salary in 1999 was $232,450.

Both men also have a right to exercise stock options under certain conditions until they expire in 2001.

Pool president Leroy Larsen said the settlements were negotiated with legal counsel representing both parties. He agreed the amounts are large, but said the board had an obligation.

“Mr. Loewen had been an employee of Sask Wheat Pool for some 28 years and it’s the kind of settlement we would probably be obliged to pay if the thing went to the courts,” he said in an interview Dec. 20.

Both employees left the company June 23, when Johnson was fired and Loewen was asked to resign. The board said it took the action because of the pool’s poor performance.

The company had just announced 1998-99 third-quarter losses of $14.2 million when the two men were released.

Last week, the company announced first-quarter losses of $14.5 million.

Larsen said he was glad to have the compensation matter settled.

“I just wish I could announce a new CEO today. We’ve done (interviews). We are not ready to make an announcement yet.”

About the author

Karen Briere

Karen Briere

Karen Briere grew up in Canora, Sask. where her family had a grain and cattle operation. She has a degree in journalism from the University of Regina and has spent more than 30 years covering agriculture from the Western Producer’s Regina bureau.

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