Department of Justice

MINISTER OF JUSTICE TABLES AMENDMENTS TO THE JUDGES ACT

OTTAWA, February 21, 2001 – The Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, the Honourable Anne McLellan, today tabled amendments to the Judges Act that implement the Government's response to recommendations made by the 1999 Judicial Compensation and Benefits Commission.

These recommendations follow a decision of the Supreme Court of Canada in 1997 that established new constitutional requirements for determining judicial compensation, including the requirement of every Canadian jurisdiction to have "an independent, objective and effective" Commission. The Judicial Compensation and Benefits Commission, appointed for a four-year term, is mandated to consider the compensation and benefits of judges and make recommendations to government.

The Government has accepted the Commission's recommendation of a salary increase of 11.2 percent. That amount is significantly less than the 26.3 percent increase proposed by the judiciary.

"The government is implementing a response that provides an appropriate level of compensation to the judiciary while ensuring its fiscal responsibility to the taxpayer," said Minister McLellan.

The salary increase, which will affect 1,013 federally appointed judges, is based on research conducted by the Commission to assess the adequacy of judicial salaries against a number of comparators, including: the earnings of private sector lawyers; salaries and performance bonuses of the most senior federal Deputy Ministers; and the significance of judicial annuities in attracting outstanding candidates to the bench.

The Commission's full report can be found at www.quadcom.gc.ca. The Government's Response can be found at www.canada.justice.gc.ca/en/news/nr/2000/juge.html.

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Ref.:

Farah Mohamed
Minister's Office
Department of Justice
(613) 992-4621

Judith Bellis
Senior Counsel
Judicial Affairs Unit
(613) 941-2321