The legislature has passed a resolution approving an eight per cent salary increase for provincial court judges retroactive to April 1st, 2017.

The change comes after the legislature failed to vote on approving a tribunal report’s recommended increase back in 2019.

The legislation was required to have been approved, changed or rejected within 30 days, but it failed to go to a vote.

That resulted in a Supreme Curt ruling in March demanding that salary increases be approved retroactive to April 1st 2017.

Justice Minister John Hogan introduced the resolution in House prior to the vote.

He says the Court had sufficient facts before it to determine that a no vote would be unconstitutional.

Andrew Parsons was Justice Minister in 2019. He supported the raise and warned at the time that rejecting the recommendation could land government in court and end up costing more. Parsons told the House that the matter was politicized at the time.

He says he was figuratively and literally on his own when he heard what the then leader of the Opposition had to say on the matter.