The Globe and Mail reports in its Friday edition an influential proxy adviser urged shareholders to oppose Barrick Gold's compensation plans, saying it has concerns about chairman John Thornton's "exorbitant" pay package. The Globe's Rachelle Younglai writes Barrick increased Mr. Thornton's compensation 36 per cent to $12.9-million (U.S.) for last year, citing his plans to improve the miner's performance by slashing debt and focusing on its gold assets in the Americas. "It comes as a considerable surprise that the company has once again decided to reward Mr. Thornton with such a generous pay package," Glass Lewis said in a note released ahead of the miner's annual meeting April 28. "We ... consider the ongoing compensation arrangement with its chairman to be excessive and extremely risky, particularly given the company's track record of exorbitant pay packages for Mr. Thornton." Barrick shares are down about 17 per cent since Mr. Thornton became chairman last April. The negative recommendation comes a year after shareholders praised Barrick for overhauling its executive-compensation practices and shaking up its board. Two years ago, Mr. Thornton's $11.9-million (U.S.) signing bonus was at issue.