Battle over Nova Scotia judges' salaries returns to court in May

The battle over who decides how much Nova Scotia provincial court judges should be paid will be heading to court in May for a two-day hearing.

It's a fight that has already been going on for more than four years and has made it all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada.

At issue is changes the government of Stephen McNeil made to the arms-length tribunal that sets judges' salaries. Before the government intervened, the tribunal's decisions were final and binding.

The changes, introduced in 2016, gave the government the power to overrule the tribunal. It did so in 2017 when it rejected a salary recommendation of 9.5 per cent.

At the time, the government argued it couldn't afford the sort of salary increases being proposed by the tribunal, even though Nova Scotia judges were among the lowest paid in the country.

The government did the same thing last year. It rejected a tribunal recommendation for a 12 per cent increase that would bring salaries to $269,198 in the first year of a three-year contract, with cost-of-living adjustments for the final two years. The government instead substituted increases totalling 5.5 per cent over three years.

The association representing provincial court judges has asked the Nova Scotia Supreme Court to conduct a judicial review of the government's decision. On Wednesday morning, Justice Ann Smith set May 13 and 14 to hear arguments on the issue.

In previous submissions, lawyers for the association have said the government is acting contrary to the Constitution and the Provincial Courts Act and is interfering with the judicial independence of the provincial court and family court.

As part of this battle, the association had requested the government supply documentation to support the reasoning behind its salary decisions.

The government had initially refused, citing cabinet confidentiality. But last year, the Supreme Court of Canada sided with the provincial and family court judges and ordered the province to release the information. That will now form part of the case to be argued in the spring.

When the judges launched this action, McNeil and then-Attorney General Diana Whalen were both named as respondents in the case. Whalen has retired from politics and McNeil will no longer be premier by the time the case is finally heard.