FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
APRIL 1, 1998

Excerpt from BarTalk, April 1998
Through the efforts of the Access to Justice Coalition and Women’s Access to Legal Services (WALS) Coalition, supported by the BC Branch, efforts to gain more funding for Legal Aid are finally achieving significant profile and attention.

Coalition for Access to Justice members, including the BC Branch, have been busy turning up the heat on government. We had resolutions passed by both the New Democrat and Liberal Parties, calling on the government to immediately increase funding of legal aid. No matter what their political stripe, people agree that the government should not be taking millions of dollars in profit from the 7 per cent tax on legal services while every day, men and women who cannot afford a lawyer are not able to get legal aid.

With private bar lawyers in Prince George, Prince Rupert, Kelowna, Abbotsford, Maple Ridge, New Westminster and Coquitlam leading the way, lawyers in other communities are considering their own "withdrawal of legal aid services". These protests have brought media attention to the issue, allowing the Coalition to tell the unheard stories of people affected by eligibility cuts and underfunding. We have met with the Attorney General, have spoken with several other Cabinet members, and are next targeting the Premier, Minister of Finance and federal Minister of Justice.

Many individuals, women in particular, have suffered from cuts to Legal Aid coverage for family law matters. For example, Legal Aid is no longer available for applications or respondents to appli-cations to increase, decrease or enforce maintenance orders. Legal Aid is no longer available for applications to vary custody or access unless there is a proven substantial risk of harm to the children, or changes to access are required to ensure the applicant’s safety. The criminal bar has seen a 34.3 per cent reduction in tariffs since 1991, and additional reductions through the complete elimination of payment for some services (e.g. prison visits). Once again, there have been significant cuts to poverty law, including lay-offs of staff lawyers who do this work. All this in the face of a growing demand for Legal Aid services.

In 1997, the LSS Board was required to introduce more dramatic cuts in services and eligibility in response to a stringent cap on provincial government funds, and a requirement to pay back a $20 million "shortfall" caused by meeting demands in service prior to the introduction of the reduction in funding. The government responded that these cuts were "acceptable". Do the people of BC believe that a system which denies equal access to justice is acceptable ? Do the people who are being denied access to legal services every day? The Coalitions—and the BC Branch—say "No".

As the late Kay Stockholder, of the BC Civil Liberties Association, so eloquently argues, Legal Aid is not a social service. It is a fundamental requirement of a legal system which is founded on the principle of equality of every person before the law. The systems which are responsible for administering the laws of Canada are incredibly complex. While self-representation is always an option, it is something which we cannot allow to become the only option for some. Our system of justice is compromised when Legal Aid is not available to assist a person who cannot, by reason of economics or life circumstances, access legal counsel or representation. This is the basic premise underlying the actions of the Coalitions.

In addition to these important social policy issues, the Branch is also forwarding the concerns of our members whose practice includes Legal Aid work. Many of our private bar colleagues are experiencing severe financial and professional strain, because of inadequate and delayed payment for Legal Aid services. Those of us who work in LSS offices face the daily challenges of increasingly urgent cases and of turning away people in genuine need of Legal Aid.

This raises the legitimate question of why we, either as the Bar or as concerned community groups and citizens, have been pushed to public protests and lobbying when the government already has the means by which to adequately fund Legal Aid? Since 1992, a seven per cent tax has been imposed on all legal services in BC. This Social Services Tax—the only tax targeted at professional services in the province, and the only such tax on lawyer fees anywhere in the country—was introduced to "offset" the cost of Legal Aid. Based on the best financial information available to us, it is estimated that the Social Services Tax plus the federal government transfer payments for Legal Aid total up to $24 million more than the provincial government is currently allocating to the Legal Services Society. Thus, up to 30 per cent of the tax collected on legal services—which our clients believe they pay to support Legal Aid—is being used to fund other government priorities.

Our objective is simple: hold the provincial government accountable for living up to its commitment to adequately fund Legal Aid. If you want to get involved—by educating yourself about the issues, talking to your local MLA, or actively participating in the Coalition, please contact the BC Branch office or Doug Robinson, QC or Mayland McKimm, the two Executive Committee members leading the Branch’s involvement in this issue.