‘Neglected and degraded:’ Alberta defence lawyers demanding boost to Legal Aid

Members of a Calgary defence lawyers group say they will no longer do unpaid work to pressure the Alberta government to boost Legal Aid funding.

Ian Savage, with the Criminal Defence Lawyers Association, says they want an immediate 65 per cent increase over four years, starting with a 40 per cent bump this year.

Savage made the demand in an open letter to Justice Minister Kathleen Ganley this week, which he says was written in desperation. He says defence lawyers will move cases from the Case Management Office – a counter at the courthouse that handles logistics – to actual courtrooms with judges.

Savage says defence lawyers can spend two to three hours a day dealing with the Case Management Office and that time spent will be more apparent if it’s before a court.

He says the group plans to take a number of other actions in the coming days to pressure Ganley to address, what it calls, the gov- ernment’s dirty little secret.

“Like a shackled and starving foster child locked in a filthy closet for years, the Legal Aid program is a neglected and degraded shadow of its true potential and is robbing poor and disadvantaged Albertans of their futures,” Savage wrote.

“Your government knows exactly what is going on with its starving hidden child, but prefers to feed and care for its more attractive and socially appealing bigger brothers and sisters: the police, the prosecution service and the jails.”