SHAWN LOGAN Legal Aid lawyers send withering letter blasting NDP over funding
Legal Aid lawyers have fired a blistering broadside at Alberta’s justice minister after desperate pleas for more funding were ignored in last month’s provincial budget.
A withering, 2,300-word missive, sent to Kathleen Ganley late Monday, criticizes Alberta’s NDP government for paying lip service to the critical legal pillar but keeping it on a starvation diet that’s been ongoing for years.
“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,” reads the letter authored by Ian Savage, president of the Calgary-based Criminal Defence Lawyers Association.
“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.
“We have one thing to say about this: shame on you and shame on your so-called social democratic government.”
Savage said there had been positive signs that the government was finally heeding appeals for a desperately needed funding boost, with a 20 per cent increase to Legal Aid funding in their first two terms, along with another 10 per cent funding hike last fall. The province also agreed to begin a review of the service.
But the Calgary lawyer said the review has essentially sputtered out and an immediate $60 million is needed to augment the service’s $89-million annual budget to ensure those unable to afford legal representation are not left to navigate the justice system on their own.
“The straw that broke the camel’s back is the slap in the face of last month’s budget, with zero new dollars to Legal Aid when $60 million is required,” Savage told Postmedia, noting they need an immediate 40 per cent increase to funding, part of a 65 per cent hike over the next four years.
“This administration two years ago realized the need to give it a blood transfusion to keep it alive. Now it’s a crisis.”
In Alberta, about 85 per cent of Legal Aid lawyers work in private practices and receive provincial funding to compensate them for their work. But with courts overwhelmed with petty crime cases driven by Alberta’s economic downturn, Savage noted that in many cases, defendants without financial means are forced to represent themselves, further bogging down the legal system.
To make their point, Savage said the CDLA and other defence lawyers will begin withdrawing their unpaid services until the province antes up more cash to cover their costs.
“We expect this government to acknowledge its moral, legal and financial duty to the poor and disadvantaged people of Alberta,” Savage said. “We expect our elected government to do the right thing.”
Ganley said she was surprised at the language used by the CDLA, noting her government immediately tried to address the severe underfunding facing Legal Aid when they took power in 2015.
“I was of the opinion that they were underfunded and they needed an immediate catch-up,” she said, disputing the CDLA’s figures on funding increases, noting they’ve seen a 38 per cent boost over four years.
“Those actions speak louder than any words can.”