Judges escape pay freeze
By ANTONELLA ARTUSO, QUEEN?S PARK BUREAU CHIEF
Critics of the pay freeze legislation argue it?s nothing more than a ?red herring? to divert public attention away from record government spending.
?What?s really frozen about it? There?s wiggle room everywhere,? Tory MPP Peter Shurman said.
Judges escape pay freeze
By ANTONELLA ARTUSO, QUEEN?S PARK BUREAU CHIEF
The Dalton McGuinty government?s proposed law to freeze public sector salaries won?t apply to Ontario provincial judges and justices of the peace.
Brendan Crawley, spokesman for the Ministry of the Attorney General, said Tuesday that the Supreme Court of Canada has held that the constitution guarantees judicial independence.
?Judicial salaries are included in this guarantee and must go through an independent, objective and effective salary process,? Crawley said in an email.
The government introduced legislation last week bringing in a two-year pay freeze for public sector employees who do not bargain collectively.
But judges, deputy judges, justices of the peace, masters and case management masters are excluded from the legislation.
The Ontario government could not immediately say what, if any, pay raise is coming to the excluded justice officials over the next two years.
According to last year?s Sunshine List, most judges make $260,736 a year, although a few earn considerably more.
Justices of the peace salaries vary but most can be found in the $112,000 to $155,000 range.
Critics of the pay freeze legislation argue it?s nothing more than a ?red herring? to divert public attention away from record government spending.
?What?s really frozen about it? There?s wiggle room everywhere,? Tory MPP Peter Shurman said.
McGuinty was called on to explain why the practice of handing out performance bonuses to senior Ontario bureaucrats will continue despite the freeze.
The premier said the total amount of compensation available for performance pay would not increase over the next two years.
?We decided in the end that the best thing for us to do was to freeze the compensation structure, or the compensation plan,? McGuinty said. ?That?s what we?ve done. We think it?s the fair thing to do in the circumstances.?