MONTREAL – A group of institutional investors led by Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec have banded together to express concern over an $11.9-million bonus payment awarded to a Barrick Gold Corp.(TSX:ABX) executive.

The eight organizations, which include pension funds from acrossCanada and elsewhere, are objecting to the decision to pay co-chairman John Thornton a signing bonus on top of his regular compensation.

The groups say that together the payments amount to a $17-million package, which they call “unprecedented in Canada.”

In Barrick’s financial filings, the company says that Thornton used the bonus payment to purchase 177,500 Barrick common shares.

The investors say they’ve expressed their concern in a letter to Barrick’s chairman and will vote against both the executive compensation resolution and the election of the compensation committee at Barrick’s annual meeting next Wednesday.

Also included in the group of concerned investment groups are the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan and international firm Hermes Equity Ownership Services.