OTTAWA - Prime Minister Mark Carney is defending his decision to pay the CEOs of two new government offices annual salaries that are higher than his own.

The federal Conservatives have criticized the new appointments, which were announced as the federal government prepares to cut back some operational spending.

Douglas Guzman, the head of the new Defence Investment Agency, and Dawn Farrell, the head of the new Major Projects Office, will each make more than $577,000 a year. That's the low end of their pay range and it does not include incentive pay.

Carney said their responsibilities in the two new offices — which his government created this year to speed up the slow pace of bureaucratic approvals — will be "enormous."

Carney said Farrell will have to "help develop projects, pipelines

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