Sask judges getting 8% raise this year

Saskatchewan judges, currently paid $204,552, are in for a big raise. As of April 1, the pay of provincial court judges will rise 8 percent to 220,916. Thereafter, it will rise four percent in each of the next two years. By April 1, 2011, judges' pay will be $238,943. The decision was made by the Provincial Court Commission, an independent body.

While most wages in Saskatchewan have grown 20% from 2002-2008, judges' pay had already grown by 43%, a hike only rivalled by that of nurses (46.3%). With another 16 percent raise to come over the next three years, one may wonder if this is truly just. It would have been better to see what the provincial government had recommended: a four percent increase in the first year, plus a raise equal to inflation for the next two.