Barrick Gold hires John Baird, Newt Gingrich

[Oscar]

Barrick Gold hires John Baird, Newt Gingrich

[ http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-o ... e23675413/ ]

Published Friday, Mar. 27 2015, 7:29 PM EDT

- - - - - -

NOTABLE QUOTE: - - - - - -

3) Promise Made: Prior to the election campaign, Mr. Harper unveiled his party’s Accountability Act, which aims to “crack down on the revolving door between ministers’ offices, the senior public service and the lobbying industry”.

Promise Broken: The Accountability Act apparently didn’t stop Gordon O’Connor from walking right through this revolving door into the crucial portfolio of Minister of Defense. Minister O’Connor, formerly a lobbyist for the defense industry, is now responsible for overseeing some of the largest defense contracts in Canadian history. Gordon O’Conner has since been dumped from this position. - From “(2008) Stephen Harpers Broken Promises” [ http://trustbreaker.freehostia.com/ ]

- - - - - - -


Barrick Gold Corp. has hired former foreign affairs minister John Baird and former top U.S. lawmaker Newt Gingrich, the company said in regulatory filings.

Mr. Baird is working on Barrick's international advisory board along with Mr. Gingrich, the former speaker of the House of Representatives. No compensation details were disclosed in the filings.

The company also gave its chairman John Thornton a pay raise as the world's biggest gold producer repositions itself to deal with the severe slump in bullion prices.

Since Mr. Thornton took over as chairman last April, nearly every executive has been replaced, the board of directors has been overhauled and plans have been laid out to bring Barrick back to its roots, when it had a streamlined corporate structure and a healthy balance sheet.

Barrick increased Mr. Thornton's pay to $12.9-million (U.S.) for 2014 compared with $9.5-million in the previous year, according to a regulatory filing. Company co-president Kelvin Dushnisky earned $4.8-million, while his counterpart Jim Gowans earned $7.3-million last year. Kevin Thomson, a top m&a lawyer who joined Barrick in October as its executive in charge of strategic matters, earned $2.4-million, including his signing bonus and other provisions.

The higher compensation for Mr. Thornton comes after Barrick reported a narrower loss in 2014. Barrick and the rest of the gold industry is under immense pressure to cut costs with gold down 30 per cent since 2011. The miner's stock is trading around $14.20 (Canadian) a share, down 25 per cent since Mr. Thornton took the reins of the company.

Since that time, dozens of Barrick veterans left including the miner's CEO Jamie Sokalsky, chief financial officer Ammar al-Joundi, corporate development executive Rick McCreary and top lawyer Sybil Veenman.

- - - - SNIP - - -

Mr. Mulroney, a former Canadian prime minister, stepped down as a Barrick director last year but is serving as the company's senior adviser on international affairs. He received more than $1-million (Canadian) for his work as an adviser and director.

Mr. Birchall, who was one of Barrick's founding board members, will step down as vice-chairman at this year's annual meeting of shareholders and then retire as director in 2016.

Investors will get a chance to vote on Barrick's executive compensation plans at the company's shareholder meeting April 28.