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.
