ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — David Maher
The Telegram
@DavidMaherNL
The recommendations of a tribunal report on salaries and benefits for provincial court judges will not be voted on until the next sitting of the House of Assembly.
On Tuesday, debate began on the recommendations of an independent tribunal that recommended the level of salary and benefits for provincial court judges for the years 2017-20. The tribunal, which acts as a mediator between the provincial government and judges to ensure political independence, had recommended no salary increases for 2017 and 2018, but did recommend a 1.6 per cent increase for 2019 and a six per cent increase for 2020.
The debate on Tuesday did not come to a vote, as it appeared the motion did not have enough votes to pass in the legislature. Justice Minister Andrew Parsons adjourned the debate with the intention of resuming on Thursday, but that didn’t happen before the closing of the House of Assembly.
Parsons says it’s up to the House leaders of each party to call the motion back to the House of Assembly for a vote.
“Given that the House is going to close, it would likely, if the House prorogues, then it would die on the order paper. The next time the House is open, there’s an obligation under Section 28 of the act to recall it and to reintroduce it and debate it again,” said Parsons.
“When that happens, I don’t know.”
The last time a tribunal on provincial court judges made recommendations on salaries was 2016. At the time, the province denied the increases, citing the government's difficult fiscal situation. The judges' association took the province to court over the denial, and judges were awarded the salary increases recommended by the tribunal.
The deadline to vote on the recommendations has passed, and Parsons says it’s likely the province will go to court once more over the recommendations.
“It’s hard to me to foretell. My guess is that based on prior situations, I would guess that if they don’t it would certainly strengthen their case, increase the likelihood that they would choose that action.”
Progressive Conservative Leader Ches Crosbie says he doesn’t believe the judges will take the province to court, despite numerous examples in the past.
“I think the minister misjudged both the case law, and his understanding of the case law. The case law does explicitly require the legislature to take account of the surrounding fiscal circumstances,” said Crosbie.
“I don’t think the judges are going to be trying to bring this out in court. They would be very ill-advised if they do that. I don’t think you’re going to see that.”
