Vic Poleschuk was fired as the head of the B.C. Lottery Corp. in June 2007. (CBC)

The highest-paid public servant in British Columbia last year was a man fired by the Campbell government over allegations of lottery retailer fraud.

Vic Poleschuk was terminated June 2007 as president and CEO of the B.C. Lottery Corp., following a report by the province's ombudsman that the lottery system was open to abuse and possible fraud and that lottery officials had failed to protect customers.

But Poleschuk earned $929,027 last year, with a basic salary of $275,000 and the rest as severance payments, according to figures contained in the government's latest public accounts.

B.C. Lottery chair John McLernon said at the time a change of leadership was needed to focus on implementing ombudsman Kim Carter's recommendations.

The president of the University of British Columbia, Stephen Toope, and presidents and CEOs of five Crown corporations round out the list of those who made more than $500,000 last year.

New Democratic Party critic Bruce Ralston said it's hard to know if the public is getting value for those payments.

"For most people, that's up in the stratosphere," he said Thursday.

Finance Minister Colin Hansen admits that those figures seem high but the salaries are comparable with those in Ontario.

"I think the average British Columbian would find that is much higher than they would have expected," Hansen said.

"[But] when you compare our compensation for senior executives with other parts of Canada we are, in fact, not the leaders."