Windsor Police Service Board 'not able' to comment on salary of former police chief
Mayor Drew Dilkens said he could not comment on the salary of Windsor’s former chief of police who was paid $266,536.34 in 2022, despite retiring suddenly in March.
The Windsor Police Service Board accepted a report during its meeting Thursday, detailing last year’s salary of former police chief Pam Mizuno who retired during the midst of a five-year contract.
“It's an employment matter about an identifiable individual. I'm not able to speak to the matter any further,” said Dilkens, who serves as chair of the board.
The report, which the board approved Thursday, also revealed Mizuno received $4,143.84 in taxable benefits in 2022.
“Chief Mizuno has retired from the organization and we have an agreement and I'm not able to speak to it anymore,” Dilkens said. “But I can confirm to you that the Sunshine List disclosure is accurate.”
The Public Sector Salary Disclosure Act (PSSD), commonly referred to as the “Sunshine List,” requires organizations, such as municipalities and boards, that receive public funding from the Province of Ontario to disclose annually the names, positions, salaries and total taxable benefits of employees paid $100,000 or more in a calendar year.
In 2021, Mizuno’s salary was listed at $241,939.95 and she had roughly $12,600 in taxable benefits.
Windsor Police Service Board accepted a report during its latest meeting, detailing last year’s salary of former police chief Pam Mizuno in Windsor, Ont. on Thursday, Mar. 23, 2023. (Chris Campbell/CTV News Windsor)
“We are required by law to have a chief of police and we are following the law,” Dilkens continued. “And of course, we look at our salaries in accordance with what's being paid to big 12 chiefs across the country and I think you'll find that Windsor police is getting great value.”
Chief Jason Bellaire, who was deputy police chief at the time of Mizuno’s retirement, made $238,523.73 in 2022 and had $10,705.71 worth of taxable benefits.
Bellaire took over as acting chief when Mizuno officially retired on March 31.
Bellaire was named chief last November.
According to the report for 2022 salaries, WPS had 430 employees out of a total 645 employees on the list compared to 417 in 2021, an increase of 13 employees.
It said the Ambassador Bridge blockade situation caused significant increases in overtime demands, which placed members who are normally below the threshold onto the list.
The report’s author and WPS director of finance, Melissa Brindley said the PSSD Act has been in place since 1996 and noted the threshold has not been amended since, suggesting while the prescribed threshold may have been relevant at that time, inflationary salary increases over the past 27 years have made it less relevant today.
In the report, Brindley said while it is completely out of the control of the WPS, the PSSD should be amended to a more appropriate compensation level with annual indexing to account for inflationary increases to generate more relevant data.
CTV News has attempted to reach Mizuno for comment, but has not yet received a response.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Maple Leafs fall to Bruins in Game 3, trail series 2-1
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
New Indigenous loan guarantee program a 'really big deal,' Freeland says at Toronto conference
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
'Life was not fair to him': Daughter of N.B. man exonerated of murder remembers him as a kind soul
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.