Even during a tough year THEY make more money!

For many 2009 was a tough year, full of belt tightening and job searching and for others it was a year of getting by and being grateful for the steady work we had. For a smaller, more select group though, it was money money money... MONAY!

The list of "Canada's 100 Highest Paid CEO's" recently came out and don't you just feel like slapping each and everyone on it? In fact, I vote we change the name of the list to "Canada's 100 Most Slappable, Over-Paid, @#&% People." Think it will catch on?

Not to get the year started with reasons to be annoyed, but here are some numbers that will help you put a little emotion behind those slaps:

According to a new report by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, Canada's 100 highest paid CEOs pocketed an average of $7.3o million in 2008

Economist Hugh Mackenzie, who authored the report, said that's 174 times more than the average Canadian wage.

And while the average compensation for the top CEOs outpaced inflation by 70 per cent between 1998 and 2008, people earning the average income lost six per cent to inflation over that period.

"To put that in perspective, Canadians will work full-time throughout the year to earn the national average of $42,305," Mackenzie said. "The top 100 CEOs pocket that amount by 1:01 p.m. on Jan. 4 - the first working day of the year."

... ya. That makes me want to work the rest of the day...

Now I know it's not fair to lump everyone who makes a lot of money into the ‘slappable' list; some of these people work very hard and are reaping the rewards of decades of education, long work weeks and coming up with (and implementing) great ideas. But still, it's hard to see banks, insurance companies and communication companies paying their top people millions of dollars while we pay increased rates and service charges...

So as you practice your backhands and karate chops, here's a list of people you can visualize.

Canada's 100 Highest Paid CEO's

-Thomas Glocer, Thomson Reuters Corp. $36.6 million.

-Ted Rogers, Rogers Communications Inc. $21.5 million.

-J. M. Lipton, Nova Chemicals Corp. $19.8 million.

-George Cope, BCE Inc. $19.6 million.

-Robert Brown, CAE Inc.$17.3 million.

-William Doyle, Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan $17 million.

-Hunter Harrison, Canadian National Railway Co. $13.4 million.

-Dominic D'Alessandro, Manulife Financial Corp. $13.3 million.

-Stephen Wetmore, Bell Aliant Regional Com. Income Fund $11.6 million.

-Serafino Iacono (co-chairman), Pacific Rubiales Energy Corp. $11.3 million.

-Miguel de la Campa (co-chairman), Pacific Rubiales Energy Corp. $11.3 million.

-Jeffrey Orr, Power Financial Corp. $11.3 million.

-Jean Claude Gandur, Addax Petroleum Corp. $11.2 million.

-Edmund Clark, Toronto-Dominion Bank $11.1 million.

-Tye Burt, Kinross Gold Corp. $11.1 million.

-Frank Stronach (Chairman), Magna International Inc. $10.8 million.

-Louis Vachon, National Bank of Canada $10.5 million.

-Randall Eresman, EnCana Corp. $10.3 million.

-Gordon Nixon, Royal Bank of Canada $9.6 million.

-Ron Brenneman, Petro-Canada $9.2 million

-Richard Waugh, Bank of Nova Scotia $9.2 million.

-Michael Wilson, Agrium Inc. $9.2 million.

-Gregory Wilkins, Barrick Gold Corp. $8.9 million.

-John A Manzoni, Talisman Energy Inc. $8.8 million.

-Allan Leighton, Loblaw Cos. Ltd./Weston $8.8 million.

-Kevin McArthur, Goldcorp Inc. $8.7 million.

-Craig H. Muhlhauser, Celestica Inc $8.7 million.

-Harold Kvisle, TransCanada Corp. $8.6 million.

-Eugene C. McBurney, (Chairman) GMP Corp. $8.3 million.

-Jim Shaw, Shaw Communications Inc. $8.2 million.

-Richard George, Suncor Energy Inc. $8 million.

-Pierre Beaudoin, Bombardier Inc.$7.8 million.

-Richard J. Harrington, Thomson Reuters Corp. $7.8 million.

-D.A. Loney, Great-West Lifeco Inc. $7.3 million.

-Pierre Peladeau, Quebecor Inc. $7 million.

-James Kinnear, Pengrowth Energy Trust $6.9 million.

-Darren Entwistle, TELUS Corp. $6.9 million.

-Stephen Snyder, TransAlta Corp. $6.9 million.

-Donald Stewart, Sun Life Financial Inc. $6.6 million.

-Robert A. Milton, ACE Aviation Holdings Inc. $6.6 million.

-Donald Lindsay, Teck Cominco Ltd. $6.5 million.

-Peter Munk, Barrick Gold Corp. $6.5 million.

-Patrick Daniel, Enbridge Inc. $6.5 million.

-William Downe, Bank of Montreal $6.4 million.

-Nancy Southern, Atco Ltd./Canadian Utilities Ltd. $6.3 million.

-Gerry McCaughey, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce $6.3 million.

-Jacques Lamarre, SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. $6.3 million.

-Charles Fischer, Nexen Inc. $6.2 million.

-Bruce Aitken, Methanex Corp. $5.9 million.

-Donald Walker, Magna International Inc.$5.9 million.

-Jurgen Schreiber, Shoppers Drug Mart Corp. $5.9 million.

-Edward M. Siegel Jr., Russel Metals Inc. $5.8 million.

-Siegfried Wolf, Magna International Inc. $5.7 million.

-David Goodman, Dundee Wealth $5.6 million.

-Mario Longhi, Gerdau Ameristeel Corp. $5.6 million.

-Ronald Pantin, Pacific Rubiales Energy Corp. $5.5 million.

-Allen Chan, Sino-Forest Corp. $5.3 million.

-Geoffrey T. Martin, CCL Industries $5.3 million.

-Sean Boyd, Agnico-Eagle Mines Ltd. $5.3 million.

-Scott Saxberg, Crescent Point Energy Trust $5.3 million.

-Ian Greenberg, Astral Media Inc. $5.3 million.

-Paul Desmarais Jr., Power Corp. of Canada $5.2 million.

-James Balsillie, Research in Motion Ltd. $5.2 million.

-Michael Lazaridis, Research in Motion Ltd. $5.2 million.

-Andre Desmarais, Power Corp. of Canada $5 million.

-Francois Coutu, Jean Coutu Group $4.9 million.

-Jay Hennick, FirstService Corp. $4.8 million.

-John Lau, Husky Energy Inc. $4.8 million.

-Frederic Green, Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. $4.7 million.

-John Macken, Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. $4.7 million.

-Steve Laut, Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. $4.6 million.

-Peter R. Jones, HudBay Minerals Inc. $4.6 million.

-Gerald Grandey, Cameco Corp. $4.6 million.

- Marc Tellier, Yellow Pages Income Fund $4.6 million.

-Mayo M. Schmidt, Viterra Inc. $4.5 million.

-Marvin F. Romanow, Nexen Inc. $4.5 million.

-M.H. McCain, Maple Leaf Foods Inc. $4.4 million.

-Keith A. Carrigan, BFI Canada Ltd. $4.4 million.

-Alain Bedard, TransForce Inc. $4.3 million.

-Wm. Wells, Biovail Corp. $4.3 million.

-Gerald Schwartz, Onex Corp. $4.3 million.

-Raymond McFeetors, Great-West Lifeco Inc. $4.2 million.

-Ellis Jacob, Cineplex Galaxy Income Fund $4.1 million.

-Robert S Pritchard, Torstar Corp. $4.1 million.

-Michael Waites, Finning International Inc. $4.1 million.

-Stephen H. Sorenson, Uex Corp $4 million.

-B.H. March, Imperial Oil Ltd. $4 million.

-Charles Jeannes, Goldcorp Inc. $4 million.

-Luc Desjardins, Transcontinental Inc. $4 million.

-Stanley Marshall, Fortis Inc. $3.9 million.

-Peter Marrone, Yamana Gold Inc. $3.9 million.

-Marcel Coutu, Canadian Oil Sands Trust $3.7 million.

-Kevin Loughrey, Thompson Creek Metals Co. Inc.$ 3.7 million.

-Thomas Gauld, Canadian Tire Corp. $3.6 million.

-Brett Herman, TriStar Oil & Gas Ltd. $3.6 million.

-S. Defalco, MDS Inc. $3.5 million.

-W.P. Buckley, ShawCor Ltd. $3.5 million.

-D.L. Rogers, Sears Canada Inc. $3.5 million.

-Edward Sonshine, RioCan REIT $3.4 million.

-Rupert Duchesne, Groupe Aeroplan Inc. $3.2 million.

Source: The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.