Court orders province to reconsider rejected pay raise for Nova Scotia judges

The Nova Scotia government needs to reconsider a “politicized” move that denied a pay raise that had been recommended for the province’s judges in 2016, a judge has ruled.

In a written decision dated March 31 but released Wednesday, Nova Scotia Supreme Court Justice Ann Smith said the Liberal government of former premier Stephen McNeil “failed to articulate rational and legitimate reasons” for rejecting a salary increase that was determined by an arm’s-length tribunal in November 2016.

“The question before the court is whether the government politicized the process of setting the judges’ remuneration,” Smith wrote. “There is plenty of evidence before the court that it did.”

The tribunal had recommended a raise of about 9.5 per cent over three years for the period covering April 1, 2017, to March 31, 2020.

But instead, the McNeil government, which had been locked in salary disputes with several public sector unions, stripped the tribunal of its authority to impose binding settlements and imposed a wage settlement in 2017. That settlement called for no increases in the first two years and a one per cent increase in the third year.

Smith said McNeil’s government failed to live up to its constitutional obligations and didn’t act in good faith when it comes to setting judicial compensation. The judge said the government seemed to have entered the process with a “closed mind.”

“It wanted to control the outcome in the event that the tribunal’s recommendations did not align with its fiscal plan,” wrote Smith. “Fiscal plans are inherently political.”

The association representing the province’s judges made its case before Smith last June and asked the judge to impose the wage settlement proposed by the tribunal. According to the province, the annual salary for Nova Scotia provincial court judges was $238,513 as of April 2019.

“Failing agreement between the parties, the court will receive written submissions within one month of the date of this decision,” Smith wrote.

The ruling has fallen into the lap of the Progressive Conservative government, which was elected last August. On Wednesday, Premier Tim Houston said the province would study the decision before deciding whether to appeal.

“We have incredible respect for our justice system and certainly our judges,” he said. “We’ll look at it and make sure we make the proper decision.”

Houston added that the language used in the ruling was “pretty strong and rare,” and he also said that as a general rule the authority of arm’s-length bodies should be respected by government.

“When they come back (with decisions), we should respect their findings, that’s kind of my starting point and it would be no different in this case,” the premier said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April, 6, 2022.