B.C. taxpayers will shell out $2.67 million in pay hikes for provincial court judges after the Supreme Court of Canada refused Thursday to hear a government appeal of the pay packages.
The high-court decision, which by tradition was not explained, means provincial court judges will get a retroactive wage increase of 4.9 per cent for the year 2013-14.
The salary for a provincial court judge now sits at $236,950.
The pay increase means raises for other government employees whose salaries are indexed to judicial compensation, including legislative watchdogs, officers of the legislature and government legal counsel.
An independent Judges Compensation Commission had recommended the 4.9 per cent rate hike in 2010, but the legislature voted to lower it to 1.5 per cent, citing the weak economy, the pursuit of a balanced budget and the lower pay packages already agreed upon by other unionized civil servants in the province.
The Provincial Court Judges’ Association took the province to court, first losing a Supreme Court of B.C. decision but then winning in the Court of Appeal.
The appeal court ruling was split, with two justices saying the legislature wasn’t entitled to reconsider the commission’s recommendations. The dissenting judge said the expenditure of public money is up to the legislature, and judges aren’t immune from B.C.’s fiscal challenges.
“We are bound by the decision of the Court of Appeal,” Justice Minister Suzanne Anton said Thursday. “This will have an impact on our fiscal plan. It will cost money. And as you know, government has been in an environment of balancing the budget, and part of our philosophy on that is that provincial court judge salaries should generally fit into the same pattern that public service salaries fit into.”
The judges also get a higher pension accrual rate, as well as 2.9 per cent and one per cent increases in subsequent years.
