Winnipeg CAO Deepak Joshi's suspension stretched out 30 more days

City of Winnipeg acting CAO Deepak Joshi will be watching municipal politics from the sidelines for another 30 days.

His three-daysuspension wasextended Wednesday by the executive policy committee (EPC) at the urging ofMayor Brian Bowman.

The three-day layoff started this week but Bowman is seeking a longer term.

Bowman used his authority under the City of Winnipeg Charter late last week tosuspend the city's top bureaucrat. ButBowman's jurisdiction is limited tothree working days, which meant the suspension would expire today.

• Deepak Joshi suspended as City of Winnipeg's acting CAO

Anything beyond that must be a decision of the EPC, which held a closed-door meeting on Wednesday to discuss the matter.

Bowman said last weekhe has"lost confidence" inJoshi's capacity to serve as CAO, but has not elaborated on why he feels that way.

The mayor said he would provide more details following the results of Wednesday's meeting.

Chris Leo, a retired University of Winnipegpolitical science professor, said Bowman could be trying to clean up what is "at the very best possible interpretation, a very sloppy administration."

"I mean, there have been a lot of things that have gone wrong [at City Hall]," he added.

Joshi, who was previously the city's chief operating officer, was appointed acting CAO following thedeparture of Phil Sheegl in October 2013.

• City of Winnipeg top bureaucrat Phil Sheegl quits
• RCMP launch criminal probe into Winnipeg police HQ project

Sheegl abruptly resigned his post in October 2013 just days beforedays before anaudit was to be released on the controversial fire hall land swap.

The swap was arranged between former fire chiefReid Douglas and Shindico and would have seen landon Taylor Avenue swapped for two fire stations that had been declared surplus by the city as well as a parcel of land on Mulvey Avenue.

When city council found out about the deal, they killed it and arranged for an external audit, to make sure the city was getting the best value for the properties Douglas had agreed to trade.

Douglas was fired about a month before Sheegl left.

The city is still trying to work out a price to buy the land from Shindico.

Bowman is also trying to juggle controversies around the police headquarters.The conversion of the former Canada Post building downtown has gone $75 million over budget and an audit of the project has prompted the RCMP to launcha criminal probe.