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A decade of cutbacks has left Canada's legal aid system in crisis. The CBA has launched a major national initiative to resolve this crisis and ensure access to justice for Canadians. Lawyers, please provide your input by completing the Legal Aid Survey.

CBA Set to Fight for National Standards

The CBA's current initiative is intended to raise the awareness of government leaders and the public about the urgency of the legal aid issue. Simply put, the CBA believes that governments must ensure that legal aid is available for low income Canadians to be able to exercise their most fundamental legal rights.

At the same time as the CBA is calling for increased access to justice, the Association is seeking improvements to the law and the administration of justice. As an Association representing the legal profession, the CBA maintains that the dedicated lawyers working on legal aid files must be treated fairly by legal aid plans. The Association is arguing for an increased government commitment to legal aid, both in terms of resources and to ensure more uniformity across the country through national minimum standards and eligibility criteria.

The CBA's National Legal Aid Liaison Committee is putting forward a resolution at the 2000 Mid-Winter meeting in Brandon calling on the Association to lobby for federal legislation to implement such standards.

Getting the Facts on Legal Aid
One goal of the legal aid initiative is to develop a communications kit. As background to the kit, the CBA is commissioning research into the current situation, focusing on the broad role of legal aid, the extent of the public's unmet need for legal services and the profession's contribution to legal aid. It has initiated the Legal Aid Survey of the profession, asking for input from lawyers about the unmet need, their contribution, and about their pro bono work.

Information generated from these sources will be used to produce the communications kit made up of speaking notes, model questions and answers, and legal aid fact sheets. The kits will make it easier for bar leaders across the country to deliver a consistent, powerful message about legal aid.