Your Standing Committee on Privileges and Elections presents the following as its First Report.

Your committee met on Thursday, July 16, 1998, at 10 a.m., on Tuesday, September 15, 1998, at 1 p.m. and Wednesday, December 16, 1998, at 1 p.m. in Room 255 of the Legislative Building to consider the Report and Recommendations of the Judicial Compensation Committee.

At the July 16 meeting, your committee accepted the resignations of Honourable Mr. Radcliffe, Honourable Mrs. Mitchelson, Mr. Tweed, Ms. McGifford, Ms. Cerilli and Mr. Helwer, and elected Mr. Sveinson, Honourable Mr. McCrae, Mr. Laurendeau, Mr. Mackintosh, Mr. Gaudry and Honourable Mr. Stefanson to replace them. Your committee also elected Mr. Sveinson as its Vice-Chairperson.

At the September 15 meeting, your committee accepted the resignations of Honourable Mr. Reimer, Mr. Martindale, and Mr. Sale and elected Mr. Faurschou, Mr. Sale and Mr. Ashton to replace them.

At the December 16 meeting, your committee accepted the resignations of Mr. Helwer, Ms. McGifford, and Mr. Faurschou, and elected Honourable Mr. Gilleshammer, Mr. Mackintosh and Honourable Mr. McCrae to replace them. Later in the meeting, your committee accepted the resignation of Mr. Mackintosh and elected Ms. McGifford to replace him. Your committee also elected Mr. Rocan as its Vice-Chairperson.

At the July 16 meeting, your committee heard representation from Mr. Rob Tonn, representing the Provincial Judges Association.

Your committee agreed, at the July 16 meeting, to defer consideration of the Report and Recommendations of the Judicial Compensation Committee until a future meeting of the committee.

At the December 16 meeting, your committee adopted the following motion:

THAT the Standing Committee on Privileges and Elections accept the recommendations in Schedule A and recommend the same to the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba.

THAT the Standing Committee on Privileges and Elections not accept the recommendations in Schedule B for the reasons individually and collectively set out in Schedule B and recommend the same to the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba.

SCHEDULE A

6. That sick leave for Judges be limited to a maximum of 208 days.

SCHEDULE B

In reviewing the report of the Judicial Compensation Committee the Standing Committee has examined each of the recommendations individually and collectively. The Standing Committee has recommended approval of most of the recommendations of the Judicial Compensation Committee respecting compensation including salary increases and benefit improvements to the Long Term Disability Plan, the Group Life Insurance Plan and the Dental Plan. These improvements involve a significant increase in cost to Manitobans and a significant improvement in the total compensation of Judges relative to compensation improvements of other Manitobans. The following recommendations of the Judicial Compensation Committee are not accepted.

1. The recommendation of the Judicial Compensation Committee that the supplementary pension benefit for Provincial Court Judges be extended to cover service prior to July 1, 1992 is not accepted for the following reasons:

(a) The current judicial pension plan consists of two parts. The first part is the same as the pension plan provided to government employees. It is equally funded by the Civil Service Superannuation Fund (CSSF) from employee contributions and the Government of Manitoba. Contributions occur at the rate of 5.1% up to the yearly maximum pensionable earnings (YMPE) and then at a rate of 7.0% on the balance. The accrual rate is 2.0% per year.

The second part is a supplemental plan which provides for an accrual rate, in combination with the CSSF, of 2.61% for all service as a Judge after July 1, 1992 for a maximum of 23.5 years. This enhanced pension benefit which was provided as a result of the first Judicial Compensation Committee was valued at an additional cost of 7.0% of payroll. The supplemental portion is paid entirely be government.

The Judges pension arrangements are significantly better than those of provincial employees and are currently among the most generous in Manitoba.

(b) The present value of the recommendation is estimated at $2.0 million. The cost to implement such a recommendation given the other significant improvements in Judges compensation is unacceptably high.

(c) The second Judicial Compensation Committee recommended extension of the supplementary pension for service prior to July 1, 1992. That recommendation was rejected by the Standing Committee in November 1996.

The recommendation of the Judicial Compensation Committee to provide Judges with improved pension credits for service prior to July 1, 1992 would effectively increase Judges’ compensation for their services at that time.

This is not a period during which Judges’ compensation was under review by this Committee.

(d) The Provincial Judges Association has indicated that because the average age of appointment is 43, Judges have insufficient time to accumulate a pension prior to retirement. The Judicial Compensation Committee stated that "there maybe Judges who are continuing to work ... solely because they cannot afford to retire."

These comments assume Judges have made inadequate personal pension arrangements prior to their appointment to the judiciary which is not a reasonable assumption. They also assume that Manitobans should be required to make up for the Judges’ failure to make appropriate pension arrangements prior to their appointment to the judiciary by financing a retroactive improvement in Judges pensions.

5. In extending the supplemental portion to Judges pensions for service prior to July 1, 1992, a specific group of Judges would be singled out for provision of a larger compensation increase by way of enhanced benefits compared to other Judges.

 

6. Judges who accepted appointments to the bench prior to July 1, 1992 were aware of the pension arrangements when they were appointed. There have been no changes to the pension plan which would have negatively impacted Judges pensions subsequent to their appointment. The only changes which have been made to the pension plan have improved pensions.

(g) The recommendations of the Standing Committee on Privileges and Elections provide for significant increases in salary which will contribute to improved pensions in a prospective manner.

1. The recommendation of the Judicial Compensation Committee that government paid parking be restored to the Judges as of July 1998 is not accepted for the following reasons:

1. Judges have indicated that secure parking is essential due to the nature of their work. Secure parking has been provided. The issues of secure parking and free parking for Judges are not linked.

 

2. All provincial employees, including Deputy Ministers, pay for their parking.

 

3. All elected members of the Manitoba Legislative Assembly, including Ministers, pay for their parking.

 

4. Judges have paid $50 per month for parking since 1991. This is the same amount as that paid by provincial employees and elected members. For the downtown Winnipeg area, this is a very reasonable, if not low, monthly rate.

1. The recommendation of the Judicial Compensation Committee that the Provincial Judges Association be reimbursed by the government for the Association’s costs of having submissions prepared and submitted to the Judicial Compensation Committee, by way of an allowance up to a maximum of $15,000 is not accepted for the following reasons:

(a) The government interacts with a wide variety of other groups in a similar manner and does not pay the legal representation costs of these groups.

(b) The Government of Manitoba pays the costs of the Judicial Compensation Committee, including the costs of the Chairperson and the Manitoba Provincial Judges’ Association appointee.

(c) The Judicial Compensation Committee is a fact-finding and recommending body. Legal representation and extensive briefs are not required. If the Association chooses to retain legal representation in this matter, it should be required to pay for that representation.

Your committee reports that it has considered the Report and Recommendations of the Judicial Compensation Committee.

Your Standing Committee on Privileges and Elections presents the following as its Second Report.

Your Standing Committee on Public Utilities and Natural Resources presents the following as its Third Report.

Your committee met on Tuesday, December 15, 1998, at 11 a.m. in Room 255 of the Legislative Building to consider the Annual Report of the Manitoba Public Insurance Corporation for the fiscal year ended February 28, 1998.

Your committee accepted the resignations of Mr. Tweed and Mrs. Driedger as members of the committee, and elected Mr. Penner and Mr. Faurschou to replace them.

Mr. Jack Zacharias, president and chief executive officer, provided such information as was requested with respect to the annual report and business of the Manitoba Public Insurance Corporation.

Your committee has considered the Annual Report of the Manitoba Public Insurance Corporation for the year ended February 28, 1998, and has adopted the same as presented.