Royal Bank of Canada chairman, John Cleghorn, received a $1 million bonus in 1999 despite a year of flat earnings and the beginning of a cost-cutting drive that could chop up to 6000 jobs from Canada's largest financial institution. When all salary, benefits, bonuses and stock options are added up, Cleghorn was paid $ 6, 7 million for 1999 alone. That's nearly three times what he was paid in 1995 ($ 2, 3 million)

In 1999, The Royal Bank posted profits of $1.72 billion. The bank's return on equity, a key measure of profitability for banks, was 15.3 percent.

To boost the bank's performance in the face of increasing foreign competition, the Royal Bank announced a major belt-tightening initiative with plans to cut nearly 12 percent of its staff over the next three years.

Royal Bank spokesman Dan Maceluch said last fall that though these salary numbers appear high to most Canadians, they are not unusual salary numbers for top Bay Street business executives.

"We're very aware of how our staff, our customers and Canadians in general may react to these numbers", he said. "They're big numbers."