Ex-cop convicted on corruption charges gets to keep his pension

Even though disgraced former Winnipeg Police Service officer Elston Bostock pleaded guilty to a list of corruption-related crimes and admitted to taking and sharing a photo of a partially clothed woman who died of an overdose, he’ll receive a pension funded partially by taxpayers.

Earlier this month, Manitoba Court of King’s Bench Justice Ken Champagne was told during sentencing of the 22-year veteran officer who has been removed from the force, that he will not be stripped of his pension.

“He’s fortunate he gets to keep his pension,” Champagne said Friday while detailing Bostock’s crimes before sentencing him to seven years in prison.

“I would share the general public feeling, the gut feeling is that shouldn’t be the case, but it is likely going to be the case.”

“I appreciate Bostock has a pension coming to him, but every cent he has should go to supporting his children.”

Bruce Curran, an associate professor of law at the University of Manitoba who specializes in labour and employment law, acknowledged that members of the public will likely be surprised that someone who admitted to committing crimes during the course of his police duties would still get a pension.

“I would share the general public feeling, the gut feeling is that shouldn’t be the case, but it is likely going to be the case,” Curran said.

“You are entitled to whatever pension benefits have accrued when you leave the employment… usually, in the vast majority of unionized environments, even if there has been misconduct, you are still entitled to whatever pension has accrued.”

Curran said Bostock won’t receive a penalty, likely because of early retirement provisions in the pension plan — not something the police service would be able to do.

“This is a good news, bad news story,” he said. “The good news is he is likely not retiring with an absolute full pension, but the bad news is he is retiring with a hefty proportion of what would normally be the full pension if you retire at the normal retirement age.”

The WPS declined a request for comment. A police spokesman said in an email that confidentiality rules don’t allow anyone from the force to speak about Bostock’s employment benefits.

Jeffrey Wiggett, executive director of the Winnipeg Police Board, said it had no comment on the pension issue because it has no authority over the pay and benefits of individual officers.

Cory Wiles, president of the Winnipeg Police Association said even employees who resign or are fired for cause will receive pension benefits they’ve earned “because pensions are treated as deferred compensation, not a discretionary benefit tied to how employment ends.”

Wiles said both federal and provincial pension legislation protects pension benefits.

“They cannot be forfeited due to misconduct, as it is compensation that has already been earned during employment.”

“They cannot be forfeited due to misconduct, as it is compensation that has already been earned during employment,” he said.

“An employer does not have the ability to claw back vested pension rights, which is not a Winnipeg Police Service issue or one that is limited to police officers.”

Last month, WPS Chief Gene Bowers confirmed the 49-year-old former constable was “not part of our organization anymore.”

Bostock had been suspended without pay since he was charged last year.

According to the city, police constables receive a salary of $121,345.99 annually after five years of service. The starting wage is $66,740.29 annually.

Officers are also able to augment their salary — as well as their pensions — by taking overtime shifts.

And, because of that OT, the City of Winnipeg’s 2024 compensation disclosure list, shows the highest-paid constable that year earned a total of $231,585. Two others earned more than $200,000, and a fourth $199,293.

The police collective agreement bases the pension on the average of the best consecutive five years of salary.

The agreement also has clauses for officers who opt for early retirement before hitting the full-pension mark of 25 years of service. There is an annual reduction of 3.6 per cent beginning at 20 years or the age of 50.

It means Bostock will see a total 10.8 per cent reduction to his pension for leaving the service three years before the 25-year mark.

“Should he be allowed to profit, to keep the profits he made, on his criminal activity? I think many people will say, as I do, no.”

An example case on the police pension plan website, for a 50-year-old officer with 19 years of service and average annual earnings of $70,000, shows they would receive an annual lifetime pension of $17,296.92 after subtracting five years’ worth of 3.6 per cent annual penalties.

But Prof. Arthur Schafer, founding director of the Centre for Professional and Applied Ethics, said he “wouldn’t single out the officer’s pension” as an issue.

“He received his salary, for 22 years, while he failed so singularly to perform his duties and, indeed, engaged in criminal conduct,” Schafer said.

“If the public feels, as I do, that he profited from his criminal activities, in a number of ways while cheating the City of Winnipeg, he ought wherever possible to not just be punished, for breaking the criminal law, but be compelled to disgorge the unjust profits that he made dealing drugs.

“Should he be allowed to profit, to keep the profits he made, on his criminal activity? I think many people will say, as I do, no.”

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca

Kevin Rollason
Reporter

Kevin Rollason is a general assignment reporter at the Free Press. He graduated from Western University with a Masters of Journalism in 1985 and worked at the Winnipeg Sun until 1988, when he joined the Free Press. He has served as the Free Press’s city hall and law courts reporter and has won several awards, including a National Newspaper Award. Read more about Kevin.

Every piece of reporting Kevin produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.