Nova Scotia will pay an estimated $470 million to public servants as compensation for Bill 148, a wage-restraint law, the provincial government has said, according to Global News.
The province was ordered to provide a remedy after Supreme Court Justice Ann Smith ruled in February that the legislation substantially interfered with the rights of several unions. A provincial Justice Department lawyer said about 81,000 public servants would receive payments for the breach of their Charter rights. Justice Smith must still approve the proposed settlement before it takes effect.
Finance Minister John Lohr said the cost had already been included in the 2025-26 budget. The former Liberal government introduced the bill in December 2015; once enacted in 2017 it restricted pay for almost all public servants for four years and ended long-service awards.
Source: Global News
