The president of B.C. Ferries yesterday lambasted a comptroller general's report that says he and other top officials at the company are overpaid.

David Hahn began an interview by saying he had to be careful with his comments, then variously referred to the report's findings and recommendations as "biased," "nonsense," "craziness" and "dumb."

Hahn even objected to a section where comptroller general Cheryl Wenezenki-Yolland stated that, compensation aside, the quasi-private company was reasonably well-managed.

"I'd probably take exception with the word 'reasonably,' " he said. "I think it's so much better, it's night and day."

Hahn, who earned more than $1 million last year, said he was insulted by the report's suggestion that he had too much influence over his compensation. The board decides how much he gets paid, not him, he said.

He also dismissed the report's suggestion it was too easy for B.C. Ferries executives to earn bonuses.

"I kind of chuckled, and thought it was sad at the same time, when she said the targets were easy to achieve," he said. "Do you think building ships in B.C. and getting that done the right way is easy to achieve? Do you think the on-time performance on the ships or changing the culture of B.C. Ferries from what it was to what it is, is easy?

"I don't know. Maybe she never rides the ferries or didn't ride them a long time ago. But I know from where it was to where it is today, we've got a lot to be proud of."

Hahn said Wenezenki-Yolland "went out of her way" to make the board and executives look bad by noting they had measured their compensation against large private companies -- like Coca-Cola Bottling Co. and Nike Canada Ltd. -- instead of public-sector bodies.

Hahn said the analysis looked at a range of public and private organizations, and that B.C. Ferries landed in the middle of the pack. But he said the comptroller general downplayed that fact to make her report more "sensational."

Wenezenki-Yolland found that Hahn's compensation was more than double the amount paid top executives at larger public-sector bodies.

Hahn also rejected the report's call for increased accountability and greater separation between the B.C. Ferry Authority and B.C. Ferries' board of directors. The authority appoints itself to the B.C. Ferries board, creating what Wenezenki-Yolland called a conflict of interest. She also recommended an expanded role for the B.C. ferry commissioner.

Hahn said the additional "bureaucracy" would cost an extra $3 million to $5 million a year. "Everybody's out there looking for ways to be more efficient and effective, and I'm getting a layer here that just is everything we've tried to get away from, which ... it's just craziness!"

Hahn suggested Wenezenki-Yolland was "biased" toward a public-sector model.

"I think she's saying B.C. Ferries should return to the way of the past. And let me tell you, if they fully implemented her mindset and it went back into this Crown environment, it would take less than a year for things to fall apart."

lkines@tc.canwest.com