Backgrounder: Legal Aid

Backgrounder: Legal Aid

by Simone Hoedel

The current underfunding of legal aid services in Canada is having a serious negative impact on the ability of low income earners to seek justice. Unresolved legal issues also exacerbate “social exclusion”, in a process which perpetuates a person's disadvantaged condition, and creates a much greater burden on Canada's social services system in the long run.

A history of federal cutbacks to Legal Aid

• The federal government began funding legal aid in Canada in 1973, but starting in the 1980s, it has been cutting back on its contribution to legal aid systems. In 1996, the federal government reduced its contribution to legal aid significantly, making provincial governments pay more of the costs. That year, the federal government capped transfer payments and reconfigured its cost-sharing for civil legal aid and moved to a general transfer of funds to the provincial government, rather than a transfer specifically designated for legal aid.
• As a result of these cutbacks, some provinces have stopped funding legal aid programs, forcing provincial bar associations to take on the costs of the existing program.
• In 2002, the BC government cut the Legal Services Society’s budget by 38.8 percent. These cuts resulted in the closing of 45 branch offices, which were replaced by 7 regional centres. In 2010, the BC government further cut the number of regional centres from 7 to 2. Poverty law services and most family law services were eliminated and legal representation services were to be made available only for legal aid matters where government has a legal obligation to provide counsel.

Current Issues in Legal Aid in Canada

• The Canadian legal aid system is a patchwork system, hampered by federal funding cuts, and no national standards.
• The Canadian legal aid system was established with a view to contributing to a more just society. Most poor people currently have little access to legal advice and assistance in civil matters.
• A legal aid expert at the Canadian Bar Association has said that the federal government should establish minimum legal aid standards.
• Chief Justice McLachlin of the Supreme Court of Canada stated in 2002 that governments should treat legal aid as an essential service.
• Recent research that has strongly linked unresolved legal problems with process of social exclusion. Providing legal assistance early in their brush with the legal system would serve to interrupt the mechanisms that drive low income earners to the breaking point.

The Canadian Bar Association has a five-point platform on legal aid reform:

• Legal aid should be recognized as an essential public service, like health care.
• Public funding should be confirmed as necessary to ensure access to justice for low-income people.
• Public funding for legal aid must be increased.
• National standards for criminal and civil legal aid coverage and eligibility criteria are required.
• The federal government should revitalize its commitment to legal aid.

Sources

• Foundation for Change: Report of the Public Commission on Legal Aid, March 2011.
• Rights-Based Legal Aid: Rebuilding BC’s Broken System, West Coast LEAF and CCPA, November 2010.
• Moving Forward on Legal Aid: Research on Needs and Innovative Approaches, Report for the Canadian Bar Association, June 2010.
• Criminal Justice in Canada, Colin Goff, 2004.

Simone Hoedel Previous career experience: Social Services resume

Simone Hoedel

Previous career experience: Social Services resume

sthoedel@gmail.com

778-378-3441

Experience

• Rape Crisis Worker, WAVAW Rape Crisis Centre, Vancouver, 1992-3.
• Child Care Counsellor, Maples Adolescent Treatment Centre, Burnaby, 1987-91.
• Youth Worker, Dales House, Regina, 1985-6.
• Child Care Worker, Bosco Homes, Regina, 1984.
• Child Care Worker, Regina Transition House, Regina, 1983.
• Activity Worker, Children's Programs, Port Coquitlam Rec Centre, Port Coquitlam, 1981.

Education

• University of Regina, Bachelor of Arts, Psychology Major, 1982-4.
• Simon Fraser University, undergraduate courses, Psychology Major, 1979-81.
• Justice Institute of BC, Interviewing sexually abused children, 1987.

Volunteer Experience

• Vancouver Volunteer Corps, Emergency Social Services volunteer. 2011-present.
• SCEP Centre (for emotionally challenged children), Regina, 1984.
• WAVAW Rape Crisis Centre, crisis line volunteer, 1992.
• Vancouver Status of Women, Kinesis magazine writer, 1992.

My updated redesigned CV

My updated redesigned CV

(pdf) Check it out:

Writer, Journalist & Communications Specialist
778-378-3441
sthoedel@gmail.com
Vancouver, BC

WEBSITES

•    The Medium: http://rothemedia.wordpress.com
•    LinkedIn: http://ca.linkedin.com/in/simonehoedel
•    Flickr photostream: www.flickr.com/photos/rothemedia

PROFILE

Writer, journalist and communications specialist with print production project management skills, and video, photography and social media skills. Seeking a consulting / management position or a position as a writer, editor, researcher, photographer, broadcast P.A. / producer.

SKILLS

•    Print production project management
•    Writing / editing
•    Social media / internet marketing
•    Interviewing / researching / producing
•    Photojournalism / videography
•    Web design and print page layout
•    Computer / web programming skills

CAREER EXPERIENCE

• Rothe Media: self-employed writer / editor / photojournalist,1995-present
• Production Assistant, Camera (volunteer), Shaw Cable, North Vancouver and Vancouver, BC, 2004, 2009
• Communications Co-ordinator, Project Porchlight Saskatchewan, Regina, SK, August-September, 2008
• Communications Consultant, Saskatchewan Agriculture & Food, Regina, SK, February-October, 2007
• Communications Co-ordinator, Saskatchewan Association of Agricultural Societies & Exhibitions, Regina, SK, August-October, 2006
• Production assistant, camera operator, graphics, switcher (volunteer), Access Communications, Regina & Yorkton, SK, 2004-2008
• Communications Director, Leon’s Manufacturing Company, Yorkton, SK, September, 2004-May, 2005
• Researcher (volunteer / intern), BCTV News (now Global News), Burnaby, BC, 1999-2001
• Camera operator, reporter, line producer (volunteer), Rogers Cable (now Shaw Cable), Vancouver, BC, 1995-2001
• Layout and production volunteer, writer, copy editor, Prairie Dog Newspaper, Regina, SK, 1994
• Studio camera operator, reporter/ interviewer (volunteer / paid), Cable Regina, Regina, SK, 1994-1995
• Editor, copy editor, reporter, photographer, layout /production, The Voice Newspaper, Langara School of Journalism, Vancouver, BC, September, 1993-April, 1994

EDUCATION

• Journalism Certificate (Accelerated Program), Langara School of Journalism, Vancouver Community College, Vancouver, BC, September, 1993-April, 1994
• Bachelor of Arts, Psychology Major, University of Regina, Regina, SK, 1983-1984
• Psychology Major, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, 1979-1982

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

•    Computer Science 122, Statistics 201, Calculus III, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, 2000-2002.
•    Web Production Diploma, Corporate Communications Training College, Vancouver, BC, 2004 (attended all courses).
•    Desktop Publishing Certificate, Corporate Communications Training College, Vancouver, BC, 1996.

VOLUNTEERING & INTERESTS

•    Vancouver Volunteer Corps: including City of Vancouver Emergency Preparedness volunteering and training, 2011-present.
•    Vancouver International Film Festival 2009-10 volunteer.
•    Shaw Television, Rogers Television, and Access Communications volunteer.
•    SCEP Centre Regina volunteer, for autistic children, 1984.

AWARDS, ACHIEVEMENTS

•    Cecilia Lamont Literary Prize: 2nd place, Poetry, 1990.
•    Most Valuable Player: Regina Women’s Soccer, 2 years in a row, 1983, 1984.
•    PoCo Wranglers: Under 18 BC Provincial Championship Team, 1979. I played goalie position.
•    Tae Kwon Do: orange belt, 2007.

REFERENCES

References and reference letters available upon request.

Portfolio: Communications

SAF (Saskatchewan Agriculture and Food) Internal Communications Strategy:

• Part 1: SAF Internal Communications Strategy Part 1 (Created by Simone Hoedel, March 28, 2007)
• Part 2: Interview with Peter Mayne (transcript), Previously Manager, Internal Communications. Now in HR: Organizational Culture.
• Part 3: Interview with Wendy Johnson (transcript), Leader of Corporate Development in Communications and Public Affairs, SaskPower
• Part 4:Interview with Josephine Bricic (transcript), Director of Internal Communications, SaskTel

Speech to repeal Agricultural Societies Act in Saskatchewan, by Simone Hoedel


EDAC (Economic Developers Association of Canada) Delegate Kit and brochure: design, layout and copyediting by Simone Hoedel

Thriving Bed Bugs a Boon to Pest Control Businesses

Pest Control companies in the lower mainland are doing a brisk business these days due to an explosion in the bedbug population.

Teddy Romana is a pest control expert in North Vancouver. He says he noticed an increase in bedbug calls three or four years ago.

“In the last two years, it’s just exploded,” he says.
“Why is the problem growing?” Romana asks rhetorically. “It’s difficult to eradicate them. We haven’t got enough tools. The chemicals, which are environmentally friendly, are not working.”

In a study done by Insight Pharmaceuticals*, Vancouver ranked 8th worst city in North America for bed bug infestation. Vancouver’s bedbug map (bedbugregistry.com) is heavily spotted with reports in the West End, the Downtown Eastside and Mount Pleasant, and totals nearly 2000 incidents.

Sean Rollo, an entomologist with Orkin PCO Services in Vancouver has witnessed a 500 per cent increase in bedbug calls over the last five years. He says the recent resurgence of bedbugs is caused by their resistance to chemical treatments, an increase in global travel, and more people living in multi-unit buildings.

“The key is early detection, so it doesn’t get to the point it’s out of control,” said Rollo. For an initial inspection, he recommends Orkin's canine service: their dog will find the little critters quickly if they're present.

Once bed bugs establish themselves, they are very hard to get rid of. “Bed bugs are very stubborn pests,” said Rollo. “It can take one and a half to two months to manage the treatment.”

Some people, frustrated with bedbug problems, might use an over the counter chemical product to deal with the creepy crawlies. Rollo strongly advises against this. “Spraying a chemical product yourself, you’re spreading it and making it worse,” he said. “This is one pest you should leave to the pros.”

Rollo says treatments for bedbugs are not product based anymore. Pest control specialists tend to use green practices like steam cleaning the seams of infected mattresses, encasing the mattress with a special fabric which protects the mattress and prevents the bugs from escaping, and treating affected areas with diatomaceous earth, a crushed powder substance of fossilized crustaceans. When the bedbugs come into contact with diatomaceous earth, they cut themselves and die.

Other stronger treatments are available, if necessary. “Pest control today is very environmentally friendly. The products we use are very very safe,” said Rollo.

Although bedbugs don't carry disease, they are a nuisance, and a public health concern. People with bedbug bites can develop allergic reactions, and the distress and anxiety of living with bedbugs can become a mental health issue, according to the Centre for Disease Control.

Romana says the severity of the bedbug problems in New York and Toronto have lead to new laws, and conferences on the topic. Toronto is holding a bedbug summit September 29th, and the Environmental Protection Agency in the U.S. held its first ever Bedbug Summit last year.

“In New York and Toronto, they take it very seriously,” said Romana. “This is a really big problem and we are going to see the same problem here.”

“Vancouver is slowly becoming one of the worst places for bed bugs.”

*Note that Insight Pharmaceuticals has developed a product called Pronto to deal with bedbugs.

Simone Hoedel's interviews and profiles

Writings: interviews and profiles

• An interview and article on Libby Davies the year she ran for mayor.
• Chester Piontek worked on the lathe at Leon Manufacturing in Yorkton. I interviewed him for the staff newsletter.
• I interviewed Archbishop Exner of Vancouver about the issue of child sexual abuse and the church's response to the abuse scandal.
• I interviewed and profiled Collins Okeny, a refugee from Sudan, for the staff newsletter at Leon Manufacturing.
• I interviewed Andrea Hemsley, winner of the Clarke Lewis Scholarship Award, for the SAASE newsletter. 

Simone's CUSO application

I have always been interested in public service and helping those in need. The seeds of this outlook of caring for our fellow human beings may have been planted in childhood, in Catholic Catechism classes, and the loving kindness of my very religious grandparents, who had a great influence on me.

I studied Psychology in University, because I and others thought my disposition was well suited to counselling those in psychological distress. After obtaining a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology I worked with "at risk" and disadvantaged children in Regina, SK, and Burnaby, BC, for almost ten years. After that, for about a year, I volunteered and worked at WAVAW Rape Crisis Centre in Vancouver on the crisis lines, with women victims of violence.

Still motivated by public service, I went to Journalism school, and wrote stories about social justice that I felt passionate about. Stories about oppression and injustice and human rights especially interested me.

I have volunteered for many organizations over the years including:

• SCEP Centre in Regina, for Autistic and troubled children.
• Woodlands in New Westminster.
• WAVAW Rape Crisis Centre, Vancouver.
• Christian Task Force on Central America: I designed and did layout of their newsletter.
• Vancouver Women's Health Collective, briefly.
• Vancouver Status on Women: I wrote a few articles for Kinesis magazine.
• Rogers Cable Television: I did stories on alternative health, heritage housing, and did some line producing, and studio and mobile camera in a community TV setting.
• Vancouver International Film Festival 2009: I volunteered in the information booth.
• Shaw Cable, Vancouver: I interned there recently as a production assistant and camera person.

In fact, I think with all the volunteering I have done over the years with children, youth, women, and other socially conscious organizations, and with my natural inclination towards living a simple lifestyle (ie. economical, resourceful, hearty), I may well be cut out for the kind of work that CUSO does.

So I decided to apply, perhaps being inspired by the present situation in Haiti, which seems so dire right now. I would be honoured to do the kind of work that needs to be done in a situation like this, under the leadership a reputable organizations such as CUSO.

Simone Hoedel's Updated PDF Resume and other Portfolio Links

My Updated Resume
My most recent writing online

Sask Ag and Food Documents I designed/collaborated on:

• EDAC 2007 Conference Brochure
• Cooperative Directors' Handbook
• SAF Internal Communications Strategy
• BREI Spousal Brochure

SAASE (Saskatchewan Association of Agricultural Societies and Exhibitions):

• SAASE Newsletter
• Regional Meetings Poster and Brochure Campaign
  

Leon's Mfg. Company:

• Leon Quarterly Newsletter
• Ram Staff Newsletter

Team Player: Poco Wranglers Girls Soccer Team

Team Player: Poco Wranglers Soccer Club. BC Provincial Championships under 18, 1979 (Yikes!)caption

Poco Wranglers Girls Soccer Team:
An excellent example of how using frightfully hideous uniforms can be a psychological force multiplier.

Our amazing under 18 girls' soccer team won the BC Provincial Championship in 1979 (!)
I am in the centre: goalie, key position.

Herbal Remedy

by Simone Hoedel

Video piece which aired May 26, 1997, for Plugged In Vancouver, on Rogers Cable

Voiceover (Simone Hoedel)

Herbs may be the medicine of the twenty-first century. More and more people are using herbs to boost their health. But Health Canada wants to regulate herbs, restricting some herbs from sale, and reclassifying many as drugs. And that has herbalists fighting mad.

Elaine Stevens, herbalist:

What the Health Protection Branch are trying to do is regulate the herbs themselves and make an awful lot of them unavailable to the public. Not just unavailable over the counter, but unavailable even through the use of an herbalist - and that's where we have a real problem.

Joseph Wu, Doctor of Traditional Chinese Medicine:

Because Chinese herbs are neither food nor drugs. It is not reasonable. It is not a fact to force Chinese herbs into drugs. And then force them to apply a DIN number which nobody can afford, and nobody can get it either.

V/O:

But Dennis Shelley at the Health Protection Branch says the government only wants to protect consumers from unsafe products and fraud. That's what the Drug Identification Number is supposed to do.

Simone Hoedel, reporter:

What's the purpose of a Drug Identification Number?

Dennis Shelley, Health Protection Branch:

It allows the public to know and understand that the product has been screened and evaluated by the appropriate officials in the federal government for safety, efficacy and quality. It's one thing if Chinese medicine is pure Chinese medicine, but some of these products have undeclared western drugs, are spiked in fact.

V/0:

But Dr. Wu says Chinese medicine is misunderstood

Dr. Wu:

I believe the Health Protection Branch try to do a good job, but they have to have expertise on Chinese herbology and Traditional Chinese medicine on their staff. The regulation kind of put us in an illegal status. I'm illegal, honestly. But (if) you're going to catch me, you're going to have to catch the whole country of people who practice.

V/O:

Sales of herbs were up last year. Business is booming. Yet herbalists say these regulations and the new licensing fees will make it difficult for smaller companies to survive.

Elaine Stevens:

What that will do is that it will drive an awful lot of the product off the market from the small people because while the larger companies who manufacture a fairly narrow range of products will continue to do that and they'll have a DIN # for all their products, a lot of the smaller people can't possibly afford to do that.

Dr. Wu:

Besides all these difficulties, they want you to prove that (non-medicinal) Chinese herbs have no pharmacologic action. That's a difficult process. It costs me lots and lots of money. I cannot do it.

V/O:

Meanwhile, Elaine Stevens shows us how an herb becomes a drug. Elaine: (video demo)

Dennis Shelley:

If someone was trying to represent garlic tablets or garlic capsules as some kind of cure or treatment for disease, that would be of concern to us. Clearly that's medicinal and it would be a drug and therefore would be regulated as one.

V/O:

The Health Protection Branch has recently announced the formation of an Advisory Panel on Herbal Remedies. This panel will ideally consult with herbalists to develop policy on regulation. Meanwhile Dr. Wu sums it all up for us.

Dr. Wu:

Food is food. Drug is drugs. Herb is herbs. Should not be mixed.

This is Simone Hoedel reporting for Plugged In Vancouver.