Effects of Legal Aid funding shortfall to come under scrutiny

Alberta’s auditor general will investigate the effects of a Legal Aid funding crunch on the province’s justice system, one day after the society announced it would be shuttering some offices in an effort to save money.

NDP justice critic Rachel Notley wrote to Merwan Saher late last month asking for an investigation in light of a funding crisis at the Legal Aid Society of Alberta that has led to more people representing themselves in court.

A spokeswoman for Saher confirmed Tuesday the office will examine the effects of unfunded Legal Aid needs on court and prosecution costs in the province.

“It’s identified as an area of interest,” said Kim Nishikaze. “There’s no time frame as yet, until we have the resources identified in an audit plan … which would then indicate a time frame for the audit work and a time frame for the reporting period.”

The audit may not begin until late this year or early 2015, she added.

“I’m very pleased they are investigating it, because it has always struck me as a penny-wise, pound-foolish approach to administering our justice system, where we continue to grow the number of people whose needs absolutely cannot be met within that setting,” Notley said Tuesday.

A funding shortfall has forced Legal Aid to more strictly enforce its eligibility requirements, meaning Albertans who receive a single income of $1,588 from Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped don’t qualify for a discounted lawyer.

The organization announced this week it would be shuttering drop-in offices in seven places around the province, eliminating 35 jobs but adding 16 to a central call centre in Edmonton. The changes will save about $4 million over three years, but the organization is still anticipating a deficit of about $15 million within the same period.

The Alberta Union of Provincial Employees, which represents staff at Legal Aid offices in Edmonton, Whitecourt and Calgary, said in a statement the closures will hurt people attempting to access legal services in smaller centres.

“Fair access to legal representation is a cornerstone of a just society. These reductions will further clog our already overburdened legal system,” president Guy Smith said.

Both Notley and Liberal critic Laurie Blakeman called for an immediate injection of funding from the province. Justice Minister Jonathan Denis has noted that while the province has increased its share of funding from $20 million to $48 million, federal government funding has stagnated at $11 million.

Following the 2012 federal budget, the Harper government secured the current level of funding for a fiveyear period, a spokeswoman for Justice Canada said Tuesday in an email.

“This meant that all provinces, including Alberta, continue to receive the same level of federal funding for criminal legal aid,” Carole Saindon wrote.

That doesn’t account for the spike in Alberta’s population, which has become the fastest-growing in the country. In 2005, the province’s population sat at roughly three million, but it has since skyrocketed to more than four million, with 100,000 new residents arriving every year.

Saindon said legal aid funding for each province is determined through a formula that considers population, the number of people charged criminally and the province’s contribution. However, she said the funding agreements between Ottawa and the provinces aren’t publicly available because they are considered protected documents.