Alberta judges to keep $220,000 salary for three years

Alberta and its judges have agreed on a three-year salary freeze, ending a debate over judicial salaries.

During a public hearing Thursday in front of the judicial compensation commission, lawyers for both parties proposed judges continue to make $220,000 a year until 2009.

Commissioner John Moreau still needs to submit his recommendation to Alberta's justice minister by Aug. 31.

Brad Nemetz, the lawyer who represents the Alberta Provincial Judges Association, said he is not aware of a better way to deal with the thorny issue.

"Before the commissions were in place, there was a tendency to ignore judicial salaries, which led to an effective decrease in salaries because they weren't kept up with inflation," he said.

Alberta Justice lawyer David Kinloch told the Canadian Press the agreement will probably still leave Alberta judges among the best paid in the country.

"The fact that Alberta's economic conditions are good does not mean that judges should get more money," he said.

The Alberta government has had an acrimonious relationship with judges over salaries since 1994 when it tried to cut their pay by five per cent to match rollbacks forced on public-sector workers.

In 1997, the Supreme Court of Canada told the province to establish the commission to look at the salaries. The commission now looks at judges' salaries every three years.

With files from the Canadian Press