Canada's new Governor General earned more than $1 million in 2010, making him the second-highest Ontario employee last year according to the province's co-called sunshine list.

David Johnston was paid $1,056,813 in salary and bonuses as the president and vice-chair of the University of Waterloo last year.

According to the list of Ontario's highest paid employees, released Thursday, Johnston's salary was second only to Tom Mitchell, president and CEO of Ontario Power Generation.

Mitchell earned $1.32 million in 2010 for his role overseeing the province's system of nuclear, hydro and coal plants, as well as its 12,500 employees.

The province started releasing its annual sunshine list in 1995, disclosing the names, salaries and bonuses of all Ontario public sector workers who are paid more than $100,000.

A few notable mentions in the newly release sunshine list include:

  • Premier Dalton McGuinty - $208,974
  • Opposition Leader Tim Hudak - $180,885
  • Third Party Leader Andrea Horwath - $158,157
  • Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair - $324,940
  • Bob Bell, president and CEO of University Health Network - $754,000

A total of 71,478 government employees made the list in 2010, up 11 per cent from 2010.

There were 64,000 names on the list that year; about 10,000 fewer than that made the list the year before.

The continual increase of employees earning six digits has prompted some to suggest the threshold should be raised.

If the threshold were raised to match inflation, to $132,000 according to government numbers, about 73 per cent of those on the list would no longer qualify.

Premier Dalton McGuinty said earlier on Thursday that he wouldn't be the one to tinker with the threshold.

He added that the budget released Tuesday imposed a 10 per cent cut in funding to the executive offices of all government ministries and crown corporations.

The energy sector traditionally has the highest earners on the sunshine list. In 2010, 7,786 energy employees made more than $100,000.

Forty per cent of those workers crossed the threshold after working overtime, CTV Toronto's Paul Bliss reports.

There are about 1.2 million people working in Ontario's public sector, including police and nurses as well as hospital CEOs and university presidents.

With files from The Canadian Press