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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 11, 2002

LONDON - The Canadian Bar Association is forming a legal aid Coalition as it prepares to select test cases to broaden the right to legal representation.

Daphne Dumont, Past President of the CBA announced a three step program today to help solve Canada's legal aid crisis. The plan includes (1) the formation of a Coalition of nine organizations that have similar concerns regarding legal aid, (2) with Coalition partners, taking our Legal Aid Watch to the grassroots, and (3) the selection of test cases to broaden the scope of a constitutional right to legal representation.

The Coalition includes the B.C. Public Interest Advocacy Centre (Vancouver), the Canadian Council for Refugees (Montreal) and ARCH: A Legal Resource Centre for Persons with Disabilities (Toronto), among others. "These organizations bring extensive, firsthand experience with the grassroots impact of governments' neglect of legal aid. This Coalition will further increase our clout when lobbying governments," explains Daphne Dumont, Q.C. of Charlottetown, Past-President of the CBA.

The CBA's Legal Aid Watch was launched in 2000 and has released eight legal aid stories that were distributed to media and provincial, territorial and federal elected representatives. "Through the Coalition, we are expanding the Watch to include the countless real life stories of people who have suffered as a result of the lack of legal aid funding, and who are regularly turned away from exercising their legal rights in areas such as employment, housing and welfare and pension benefits."

"Finally, and perhaps most significantly, we are going to look for test cases to broaden the scope of a constitutional right to legal representation," says Daphne Dumont. "We are looking to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms to see if a case can be made to expand the right of all Canadians to the legal representation they need."

Phyllis Gordon, Executive Director of ARCH: A Legal Resource Centre for Persons with Disabilities says, "There is an overarching legal obligation on service providers, including legal aid programs, to take all reasonable steps to accommodate people with disabilities. Programs must use an inclusive lens to identify and remove the many barriers facing people with disabilities who need access to justice."

The situation in British Columbia is particularly acute given the extensive cuts to legal aid announced earlier this year. Patricia MacDonald of the B.C. Public Interest Advocacy Centre in Vancouver says: "The loss of B.C.'s legal aid services will adversely impact women, First Nations people, the elderly, new Canadians and people with mental and physical disabilities. Women are lining up at legal aid offices and women's centres asking for legal advice. Legal aid offices can no longer offer them any assistance."

David Matas, representing the Canadian Council for Refugees says: "Protection of refugees requires that claimants be adequately represented. Currently, there are serious regional inequalities in access to legal aid and many claimants effectively do not have access to legal representation."

The Canadian Bar Association is dedicated to improvement in the law and the administration of justice. Some 37,000 lawyers, notaries, law teachers, and law students from across Canada are members.

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CONTACT: Hannah Bernstein, Aug.9-14, CBA Media Centre, London Convention Centre, Boardroom IV, Main Floor, (519) 661-6337.