FOR RELEASE:
Wednesday, January 27, 1999EDMONTON
—The province will appeal today’s Court of Queen’s Bench ruling on judicial compensation. Alberta Justice Minister Jon Havelock made this announcement while en route to the Alberta Summit on Justice, which starts this evening in Calgary."We will be appealing this decision to the Court of Appeal," said Havelock. "Our position there, as it was before the Court of Queen’s Bench, will be that the Legislature can reject the Commission’s recommendations, as it is the Legislature that has the authority to establish judicial compensation."
An Order in Council signed August 26, 1998, enhanced the pension plan for Alberta’s Provincial Court judges’ and increased their salaries to $125,000 a year, retroactive to April 1, 1998. This cost the government an additional 19.8% in judicial salaries and benefits, and made Alberta’s judges the fifth highest paid among their counterparts across Canada. The order also called for a further raise April 1, 1999, based on the average weekly earnings for Alberta as reported by Statistics Canada. Before the order was passed, judges earned an annual salary of $113,964.
Following today’s ruling, Alberta’s Provincial Court judges are one of the highest paid judiciaries in the country. They make $142,000 a year retroactive to April 1, 1998. This will cost the government an additional 34% over judges’ 1997 salary of $113,964 and benefits.
Judges will also be entitled to another increase April 1, 1999, raising their annual salaries to $152,000. This will cost the government an additional 43.4% increase over judges’ 1997 salary and benefits.
The government will be applying for a stay of today’s decision to keep judges’ salaries and benefits the same until the outcome of the appeal is known. If unsuccessful, the new pay package will be introduced as soon as possible.
The increased salaries were recommended in the Judicial Compensation Commission’s report released June 26, 1998. Chaired by E. Susan Evans, the three-member Judicial Compensation Commission was established March 3, 1998, to publicly examine Provincial Court judges’ pay, pension and benefits. Other commission members included Louis D. Hyndman, Q.C. (representing the Alberta Government) and Roderick A. McLennan, Q.C. (representing the judiciary).
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For further information contact:
Peter Tadman - Justice Communications - (403) 220-2223—summit - (780) 427-8530—post-summit
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Copyright(c); 1999 Government of Alberta