Ontario's Liberal government was at a loss Monday to explain why a former deputy minister of health was paid $762,000 in 2010 when he left government the year before. The salary for former Deputy Health Minister Ron Sapsford was listed under Hamilton Health Sciences in last week's sunshine list of public sector workers earning more than $100,000 a year. Sapsford quit the government in 2009 after the $1-billion eHealth scandal, which saw very little progress towards electronic health records, but he still earned more than three-quarters of a million dollars from Ontario taxpayers in 2010. "I can't comment on that," said Health Minister Deb Matthews. "I wasn't part of the arrangement with him." Matthews' staff said the government was bound by secrecy so Sapsford himself would have to explain the huge payout, which was listed as $672,916 in salary and $89,152 in taxable benefits. "By law, we can only disclose what's on the sunshine list," said Matthews' press secretary, Neala Barton. "You'd have to follow up with Ron Sapsford himself for more details." Sapsford, now the chief negotiator for the Ontario Medical Association, the doctors' lobby, declined comment Monday.
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