Printer friendly

OTTAWA - During a one-and-a-half hour meeting with CBA President Daphne Dumont on April 3, Justice Minister Anne McLellan announced that the federal government will spend an additional $20 million on legal aid this year. The news was warmly received by the CBA President who called it "a significant step toward permanent, adequate and fair funding for legal aid, something the CBA has been advocating for a long time."

And there was more good news. The Minister told CBA President Daphne Dumont that further funding will be available from the federal government to conduct federal/provincial research on the unmet need for legal aid. The CBA will be involved in consultations as part of this research initiative. These announcements follow promises made by the Minister of Justice last fall.

Counting legal aid among the top priorities for her presidency, Daphne Dumont reacted very positively to the announcement, but cautions that there is more work to be done. "We have to maintain our efforts to ensure that there is proper ongoing funding for both criminal and civil legal aid."

The CBA has been pressuring the federal government to increase funding for legal aid for years. Last August, the CBA ratcheted up that pressure with the launch of its Legal Aid Watch. "Through the Watch we recount ‘horror stories' about individuals who find themselves in dire circumstances due to an inadequately funded legal aid system," says Daphne Dumont.

Lawyers in the Watch come from across Canada and represent all types of legal aid practice. They send the stories to CBA National Office on a regular basis. A story is then selected and used as the basis for regular open letters to MPs, MPPs, legal aid plans, and media.

Also on the agenda for discussion between the Minister and the CBA President were: Unified Family Courts; organized crime; mail openings by Customs officials; youth justice; custody and access consultations; Canadian Human Rights Act amendments; Federal Court facilities; WTO negotiations and racial equality in the legal profession.