Winnipeg mayor keeps mum on $567K payout to former acting CAO Deepak Joshi
Bartley Kives | CBC News | Posted: July 6, 2016 4:42 PM | Last Updated: July 6, 2016
Brian Bowman says compensation disclosure needs to be more transparent, but sheds no light on departure
Mayor Brian Bowman says he's unable to shed any light on the $567,000 payout made last year to Deepak Joshi, Winnipeg's former acting chief administrative officer.
One week after the city issued its annual compensation disclosure, a list of payouts to city employees who earned more than $50,000 a year in salaries and benefits, Bowman said provincial privacy legislation precludes him from elaborating upon the salary, benefits or severance paid to Joshi, who was suspended by the mayor two weeks into 2015.
Bowman suspended Joshi on Jan. 16, 2015, stating at the time he had lost confidence in the long-serving city employee. Joshi resigned on Feb. 18, 2015.
According to the 2015 compensation disclosure, released by the city on June 29, Joshi received $567,000 last year. His compensation in 2014 was $246,000.
Speaking to reporters outside his office at city hall, Bowman said he could not elaborate upon Joshi's compensation.
"I'm sure you can appreciate there's provincially mandated privacy rules that preclude us legally from being able to comment on personnel matters," the mayor said following the final executive policy committee meeting before the summer prorogation.
The mayor would not respond directly to questions about whether he had any regrets about the way he handled Joshi's suspension, whether he would have done anything differently or whether his actions led taxpayers to wind up on the hook for a larger severance payment to the former acting CAO.
Bowman also would not say whether Joshi, who now runs Red River Planning, threatened the city with legal action.
"The end result is we have a new CAO who has my confidence," said Bowman, referring to Doug McNeil, who was hired by the city in 2015.
Bowman noted the Joshi's contract with the city was signed under the previous administration. The mayor said he was elected on a promise to improve openness and transparency and lauded McNeil for agreeing to make his own contract public last week.
- Deepak Joshi suspended as City of Winnipeg's acting CAO
- City of Winnipeg's acting CAO Deepak Joshi resigns
Bowman also said he has approached the Pallister government about making changes to the way the compensation disclosure presents payouts to city staff. The mayor said he would like the payments to be broken down into various categories instead of being displayed as lump sums.
"It raises more questions than sometimes it answers. I have reached out to the province to see if they're open to making changes to the information that's contained in those reports. They've indicated they're open to making changes," he said.
The compensation disclosure reveals some rank-and-file police officers earned more than the mayor in 2015.
"I'll leave that for the public," Bowman said when asked to comment, adding later that the Winnipeg Police Board is better suited to answer such queries.