Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I'm here today to speak to you about the amendments to the Judges Act proposed by division 9 of Bill C-45, the Jobs and Growth Act.
These amendments will implement the government's response to the report of the fourth Judicial Compensation and Benefits Commission, or the quadrennial commission, as it's often called. Counsel for the government and the judiciary cooperated effectively to collect the necessary data to put before the commission. The commissioners conducted the hearings in an effective and timely manner and delivered their report well before the statutory deadline. The government released its response to the commission's report more than a month in advance of the statutory deadline for a response and introduced the necessary implementing legislation in Parliament six days later.
As you know, judicial compensation is governed by constitutional provisions and principles designed to ensure public confidence in the independence and impartiality of the judiciary.
Section 100 of the Constitution Act of 1867 requires that Parliament rather than the executive fix the judicial compensation and benefits that are set out in the Judges Act.
In addition, the Supreme Court of Canada has held that before any changes to judicial compensation can be made, the adequacy of judicial compensation must be considered by an “independent, objective and effective” commission. As a result, section 26 of the Judges Act provides for the establishment of the Judicial Compensation and Benefits Commission every four years, with a mandate to inquire into and make recommendations on the adequacy of judicial compensation and benefits for all federally appointed judges.
This inquiry takes place within a statutory framework set out in the Judges Act, and recommendations on compensation and benefits must generally address the criteria set out in the act.
The current commission was convened on September 1, 2011, and was composed of Mr. Brian Levitt, who served as chair, Mr. Paul Tellier, and Mr. Mark Siegel. The Levitt commission received submissions from all interested parties and held hearings at the end of February 2012. It delivered its report on May 15, and the report was tabled in Parliament two days later. The government's response was released on October 12, and the amendments to implement that response, which are before you today, were introduced in Parliament six days later as part of Bill C-45.
In keeping with the commission's key salary recommendation as well as with the government's fiscal commitments and priorities, the status quo with respect to judicial salaries will be maintained. That means there will be no increase to judicial salaries beyond the statutory indexing under section 25 of the Judges Act of the current quadrennial period of April 1, 2012, until March 31, 2016. Puisne judges of the trial and appellate courts will continue to receive the same salary, and those who fulfill additional functions such as chief and associate chief justices and the senior judges of the territorial trial courts will continue to receive a salary that reflects their additional managerial responsibilities.
In addition to setting judicial salaries for the next four years, these amendments will also introduce a few minor changes to ensure that judges who perform similar roles and responsibilities receive similar benefits.
All retirement benefits currently enjoyed by chief justices will be extended to the three senior judges of the territorial trial courts. These amendments will allow senior judges to step down from their duties as senior judge, after having performed them for at least five years, and to return to being a puisne judge or to elect supernumary status, if they're eligible, and to receive a pension based on the salary of a senior judge on retirement. Since the territorial senior judges perform the same functions as do chief justices for their courts and are paid the same salary, it seems only fair to provide them with the same retirement benefits.
In the same spirit, these amendments will provide Ontario's senior family law judge with the same representational allowance of $5,000 per year that all Ontario regional senior judges receive. Again, I think this change is only fair since the senior family judge performs functions equivalent to those of senior regional judges.
The amendments before you today will also make some changes to the judicial compensation commission process in order to improve its timeliness and effectiveness. More specifically, these amendments will reduce the government's time to respond to a commission report from six months to four months and will require the introduction of implementing legislation within a reasonable period. Currently, once appointed, the commissioners have nine months to receive submissions from all interested parties, hold public hearings, and produce a report outlining their recommendations. The government then has six months from the date on which the commission's report is received to respond.
The judicial compensation and benefits process, therefore, currently unfolds over a period of a year and a half.
The first of these changes, which reduces the government's time to respond by two months, will simply help shorten the process and bring it to a faster conclusion.
You will note that the amendments also pushed forward the start date for future commissions by one month, from September 1 to October 1. This small change in the timeline of the process is being made because the government is committed to this process and wants to ensure that the deadlines can be reasonably met. Shortening the government's time to respond by two months within the current timelines would make the deadline for the government's response October 1. To coincide with cabinet's ordinary meeting schedule, this clause postpones the commission process by one month, making November 1 the deadline for the government's response.
The second change, introduction of legislation within a reasonable period, will simply codify a requirement that already exists in case law. This serves to further underscore the government's commitment to this process, ensuring that future commission processes function as effectively as have the 2011 and 2012 processes.
Mr. Chair, that concludes my remarks, but I would of course be pleased to answer any questions you may have.
I appreciate being joined today by Judith Bellis and Patrick Xavier from the Department of Justice.