OTTAWA, ON: The Canadian Taxpayers Federation won an important victory at the Supreme Court of Canada today in a ruling that reinforces the principle that elected officials are ultimately responsible for spending taxpayers’ money, including spending on salaries for judges.

“Canadians elect representatives to take care of our tax dollars and the Supreme Court’s decision upholds that principle,” said Aaron Wudrick, the Federal Director for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation. “The Canadian Taxpayers Federation was proud to intervene in this important Supreme Court case and present arguments on behalf of taxpayers.”

Governments in British Columbia and Nova Scotia implemented wage restrictions on all provincial employees, but judges in those provinces who were denied large pay increases went to court to force the release of confidential cabinet documents. The Supreme Court ruled against the judges, refusing to compel disclosure of B.C. cabinet documents while only ordering the release of a few specific documents from Nova Scotia.

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation presented arguments at the Supreme Court as an intervener.

The court decisions are available here: British Columbia (Attorney General) v. Provincial Judges’ Association of British Columbia and Nova Scotia (Attorney General) v. Judges of the Provincial Court and Family Court of Nova Scotia.