B.C.’s front-line legal aid lawyers are underfunded
Low salaries affect ability to serve, Scott McCannell says.
Legal Services Society staff lawyers comprise the most important point of contact for vulnerable British Columbians who need legal aid.
And their concerns are being ignored by the B.C. government.
These 26 LSS staff lawyers serve the front lines of justice for those most at need across our province, a significant responsibility shouldered by a small group of dedicated people. LSS staff lawyers are the difference between a vulnerable individual pleading inappropriately in a complex and overwhelming process, and that same individual receiving comprehensive legal representation that protects their interests and rights.
LSS staff lawyers are the people who make sure British Columbians can access justice, regardless of income. If you and your children are fleeing domestic violence, if you’re a refugee trying to find security in Canada, or if you’ve been charged with a crime and you don’t know where to turn, they are the ones who make sure you are treated fairly in the court system.
Without the LSS staff lawyers, low-income British Columbians facing a variety of serious legal challenges would have to take on a complicated and expensive justice system all on their own. As former Supreme Court Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin said, “There is no justice without access to justice.”
These staff lawyers are the first point of contact for individuals seeking legal aid, and they oversee the legal aid cases that are referred to contract lawyers working in private practices. They are also the ones managing and staffing the 10 parent legal aid and regional legal aid centres throughout the province.
B.C. Attorney General David Eby agreed to a 25 per cent wage increase in March 2019 for the 1,000 legal aid contract lawyers, and additional wage increases over the next three years were announced earlier this month.
Who loses with a system like this? B.C.’s most vulnerable citizens.
In turn, LSS staff lawyers have been offered a two per cent annual increase over three years. That is not enough.
Without higher increases, legal aid centres throughout the province will continue to face challenges in recruiting and retaining qualified lawyers. Historically, LSS staff lawyers’ salaries were consistent with those paid to Crown counsel lawyers employed by the province.
After years of underfunding, LSS salaries are now 30 per cent lower than Crown counsel. This differential will drive good people out of the legal aid centres and convince the next generation that it’s better to become a contract lawyer in private practice or work elsewhere in the legal system than it is to work as a legal aid staff lawyer. That’s why LSS staff lawyers have taken the difficult step of voting in favour of strike action. Every day, the LSS staff — mostly women and Indigenous lawyers — do everything humanly possible, with limited resources, to make sure disadvantaged people are treated fairly in the justice system.
B.C. has reached a tipping point. More than a decade of underfunding and the significant cuts made by the previous government have added up. B.C. ranks 10th in Canada for per capita legal aid funding and lags behind Ontario, where Premier Doug Ford cut $133 million from Legal Aid Ontario this fiscal year.
Who loses with a system like this? B.C.’s most vulnerable citizens.
The B.C. government has an opportunity to repair the damage that has been done and lay the groundwork for sustainable legal aid services. After years of cuts, it’s time to reinvest in the most important front-line legal aid services and the LSS staff lawyers who provide them.
Legal aid staff lawyers do not take their strike vote lightly. They care deeply about British Columbians accessing legal aid, but they are determined to secure a fair and equitable contract with wages that can sustain effective legal aid throughout the province.
We are calling on government to negotiate a fair and equitable collective agreement. This is an opportunity to keep legal aid sustainable, and retain and attract good people to help B.C.’s most vulnerable. We believe all British Columbians should be afforded the same access to justice.