Stephen Harper's minority Conservative government may be headed for a confrontation with the judiciary over how much judges are paid.
Justice Minister Vic Toews has tabled legislation to set the salaries of federal judges. (Tom Hanson/Canadian Press)
FROM FEB. 27, 2006: Rothstein faces questions from MPs
Justice Minister Vic Toews on Wednesday introduced legislation to set salaries for federally appointed judges — and give them a smaller raise than an independent commission had recommended.
The move is a response to a 2004 report by the commission that suggested raising judge's salaries to ensure they are competitive with lawyers in private practice.
The commission, formed in 1999 to end political squabbling over how much the country's 1,100 federally appointed judges are paid, had recommended a 10.8-per-cent salary hike.
A Liberal bill to implement the raises failed to pass through the House of Commons before Paul Martin's Liberal minority government fell in November 2005.
Now Toews is reintroducing the bill — but with a smaller raise for judges.
"Instead of the 10.8-per-cent increase, plus the cost of living, we have said 7.25 per cent, plus cost of living, is more appropriate," said Toews.
In a statement on its website, the Justice Department said it made the change because of concerns "with the commission's reliance on urban lawyers' private practice salaries as a comparator, and the value placed on the judicial pension."
"We are also committed to fiscal responsibility and recognize that judges are paid from the public purse — upon which there are many competing and legitimate demands," said Toews in the statement.
New Democrat says Tories have 'contempt' for judiciary
NDP MP Joe Comartin is accusing the Conservatives of trying to pick a fight.
"What we have here is another reflection of the contempt this government holds towards our judiciary," he said.
Judges have gone to the courts in the past to fight what they felt were inadequate pay raises.
Harper has suggested some judges have a Liberal bias and after his January election win, announced Supreme Court judge nominees would undergo a public vetting process.
In early May, Conservative MP Maurice Vellacott stirred up controversy by claiming that Supreme Court Chief Justice Beverly McLachlin said judges take on God-like powers.
McLachlin denied saying anything of the sort and Vellacott later apologized, agreeing that the top judge never "expressly said that she had God-like powers."