Ottawa public servants are urging United Way President and CEO Brian Gallagher to donate to the Government of Canada Charitable Workplace Campaign, which is “at risk” of falling short of its $19-million fundraising goal.
According to the United Way, Brian Gallagher’s total compensation (in 2015, the last year for which figures were published) was $1,236,611 USD, or $1,622,804 Canadian dollars. This includes $712,758 (CDN) in base compensation, $234,447 in bonus and incentive compensation, $190,978 in other reportable compensation, and $518,504 in health insurance and retirement benefits, the organization claims.
Mr. Gallagher has donated to United Way throughout his 35 year career at the charity, but it not specified what percentage of his $1.6-million salary is donated back to his organization.
The request to Mr. Gallagher comes after a similar plea was made to public servants by Susan Ingram of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Ottawa, Kathryn Hill of Family Services Ottawa, and 25 agencies supported by the United Way.
Current total donations sit at $14.6-million, or $4.4-million short of what the United Way was hoping to receive from the public service this year.
Speaking on behalf of himself, and not the over 80,000 public servants who experienced loss or interruptions of their pay after the Government of Canada implemented a new pay system, Julian Pomeroy said, “I’m sorry that I’ve had to donate less this year. I am confident that by this time next year I will have paid down some of the balances on my maxed-out credit cards, caught up on outstanding bills, and resolved issues with the collection agency and credit bureaus. It will be too late to get back the things I had to sell on Kijiji, and my marriage is probably over for good, but I can at least try to do more for the less fortunate in the coming year.”
He appealed to Mr. Gallagher to help cover some of the shortfall this year, on the assumption that the CEO received full pay and benefits in a timely manner.