Dispute over judges' salaries to be heard by Supreme Court of Canada

A spat between the Nova Scotia government and its provincial court judges over how much they should be paid is going before Canada's highest court.

In a decision released Thursday morning, the Supreme Court of Canada announced it would hear the case in conjunction with a similar dispute between the government of British Columbia and their provincial court judges. No date for the hearing has yet been set.

Nova Scotia and B.C. are both challenging Appeal Court rulings that ordered they turn over records related to decisions to give judges pay raises that were smaller than the advice of outside advisory bodies.

In the Nova Scotia case, the McNeil government rejected the recommendation of the Provincial Court Judges' Salary and Benefits Tribunal for increases totalling 9.5 per cent over three years. It instead imposed a wage increase of 1.5 per cent, in line with what provincial civil servants were receiving at the time.

Nova Scotia's 35 provincial and family court judges are among the lowest paid in the country. When the dispute first arose in 2017, judges were making $236,151 a year. The only province to pay its judges less was Newfoundland and Labrador, according to figures compiled by the tribunal to support its recommendation.

The Nova Scotia government countered by saying the judges' salaries placed them in the top one per cent of earners in the province.

Similar fight in B.C.

In March 2017, the Nova Scotia Provincial Court Judges' Association applied for a judicial review of the government's salary decision. As part of that request, the association asked for the documentation the government used to justify its decision.

Both the Nova Scotia Supreme Court and the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal have agreed that supporting documentation should be released. Now, the Supreme Court of Canada will weigh in.

It's a similar situation in British Columbia, where the government decided that provincial court judges should be paid $11,000 less than what was recommended by the Judges Compensation Commission.

In both provinces, the arguments over the actual salary decisions haven't been heard yet, as the judges continue to try to pry documents out of government hands.

Protecting cabinet confidentiality

Premier Stephen McNeil said he welcomed the news the Supreme Court would hear arguments.

"We believe cabinet confidentiality is something that should be protected," he told reporters at Province House. "We'll wait to hear what the court has to say."

McNeil said he remains comfortable with the approach his government used in making the decision on salaries, and that it was "the right decision for Nova Scotians" and reflected the ability of the province to pay.

The premier said there's been no sign of negative affects on the ability to recruit candidates to the bench or retain judges in the province.

"As a matter of fact, not a single person has said 'no' to me when I've asked them did they want to join the family and provincial court bench."