BILL 23

An Act Respecting Provincial Court Judges’ Pensions

Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick, enacts as follows:

Provincial Court Judges’ Pension Act

1(1) Section 5 of the Provincial Court Judges’ Pension Act, chapter P-21.1 of the Acts of New Brunswick, 2000, is amended

(a)  by repealing subsection (1) and substituting the following:

5(1) An active judge shall make contributions in relation to the Plan in an amount established by the regulations, in accordance with and as required by the regulations, until the date on which the total amount of the annual pension that the judge would be entitled to be paid under Part III on retirement when combined with the total of the annual supplementary allowances and other annual supplementary payments that the judge would be entitled to be paid under Part IV on that date equals 65% of his or her average salary.

(b)  by repealing subsection (2) and substituting the following:

5(2) Despite subsection (1), an active judge who is or becomes the age prescribed in subparagraph 8502(e)(i) of the Income Tax Regulations under the Income Tax Act (Canada) on or after the date of the commencement of this subsection shall cease to make contributions as required in subsection (1), and shall not accumulate pensionable service,

(a)  on and after the date of the commencement of this subsection, and any benefit that the judge is entitled to be paid under Part III shall begin to be paid not later than that date, if the judge had become the age prescribed in subparagraph 8502(e)(i) of the Income Tax Regulations under the Income Tax Act (Canada) on or before the thirty-first day of December preceding the date of the commencement of this subsection, and

(b)  on and after the day following the last day of the year in which the judge becomes the age prescribed in subparagraph 8502(e)(i) of the Income Tax Regulations under the Income Tax Act (Canada), and any benefit that the judge is entitled to be paid under Part III shall begin to be paid not later than that day, if the judge had not become the age prescribed on or before the thirty-first day of December preceding the date of the commencement of this subsection.

(c)  by repealing subsection (4) and substituting the following:

5(4) The maximum period of pensionable service of a judge that may be used for the purposes of calculating a benefit under this Act or the regulations is the period that ends on the date on which the total amount of the annual pension that the judge would be entitled to be paid under Part III on retirement when combined with the total of the annual supplementary allowances and other annual supplementary payments that the judge would be entitled to be paid under Part IV on that date equals 65% of his or her average salary, whether the recipient of the benefit is the judge, the spouse, common-law partner, child or estate of the judge or the legal representative of any of them.

1(2) Section 18 of the Act is amended

(a)  by adding after subsection (1) the following:

18(1.01) On and after April 1, 2010, with respect to the judge’s years of pensionable service, including parts of a year, accumulated on and after that date, the percentage referred to in subsection (1) shall be read as 1%.

(b)  in subsection (1.1) by striking out “sixty-nine” and substituting “the age prescribed in subparagraph 8502(e)(i) of the Income Tax Regulations under the Income Tax Act (Canada)”.

1(3) Section 37 of the Act is amended

(a)  in subsection (3.1) by striking out “sixty-nine” and substituting “the age prescribed in subparagraph 8502(e)(i) of the Income Tax Regulations under the Income Tax Act (Canada)”;

(b)  in paragraph (3.2)(c) by striking out “sixty-nine” and substituting “the age prescribed in subparagraph 8502(e)(i) of the Income Tax Regulations under the Income Tax Act (Canada)”.

Regulation under the Provincial Court Judges’ Pension Act

2 Subsection 3(1) of New Brunswick Regulation 2000-8 under the Provincial Court Judges’ Pension Act is repealed and the following is substituted:

3(1) For the purposes of subsection 5(1) of the Act, a judge shall make contributions monthly in relation to the Plan in an amount equal to the following percentage of the judge’s salary to which the contribution relates:

(a)  in the case of service performed before April 1, 2010, 7%; and

(b)  in the case of service performed on or after April 1, 2010, 8%.

Provincial Court Act

3(1) Subsection 4.21(8) of the Provincial Court Act, chapter P-21 of the Revised Statutes, 1973, is amended by striking out “sixty-nine” and substituting “the age prescribed in subparagraph 8502(e)(i) of the Income Tax Regulations under the Income Tax Act (Canada)”.

3(2) Subsection 15(10) of the Act is amended in the portion preceding paragraph (a) by striking out “sixty-nine” and substituting “the age prescribed in subparagraph 8502(e)(i) of the Income Tax Regulations under the Income Tax Act (Canada)”.

Commencement

4(1) Paragraphs 1(1)(a), (c) and (2)(a) and section 2 of this Act shall be deemed to have come into force on April 1, 2010.

4(2) Paragraphs 1(1)(b) and (2)(b), subsection 1(3) and section 3 of this Act shall be deemed to have come into force on January 1, 2007.