VANCOUVER - The Canadian Taxpayers Federation says B.C. is paying way too much to its top bureaucrats.

The government has released statistics of executive compensation, showing the senior aide to the premier made almost one million dollars last year, while a million-dollar package went to the managing director of BC Hydro's export arm, Powerex.

The top two executives at the Insurance Corp. of B.C. and the head of the B.C. Pavilion Corp. each earned more than $500,000, while the chiefs of BC Hydro and the B.C. Lottery Corp. pulled down more than $400,000 each. Taxpayers Federation B.C. Director Jordan Bateman says there's no excuse for paying these people that kind of money and it's out of whack with the private sector.

The heads of the Vancouver Coastal, Fraser and Interior health authorities collectively earned more than a million dollars in compensation, and Bateman says some of that money could have been better spent on direct health care.

Another top wage earner was University of B.C. president Stephen Toope, whose compensation totalled $581,000.