Statement by Susan McGrath, President of the Canadian Bar Association on the CBA Legal Aid Constitutional Challenge
1. The Canadian Bar Association which represents more than 34 thousand lawyers across Canada and more than five thousand, six hundred lawyers in this province is announcing today the start of a ground-breaking test case that will challenge the constitutional right to civil legal aid in British Columbia. Just minutes ago, the Statement of Claim was filed with the BC Supreme Court.
2. Our Association made the decision to pursue litigation last August at its meeting of Council. This dramatic step resulted from the sense of profound frustration with the cuts to legal aid.
3. The CBA has been fighting for more than a decade to expand civil legal aid services for those who do not have the means to access our legal system:
- Our Association has made submissions to the provincial and federal government leaders.
- We made legal aid the priority of our presentations to Justice Ministers when they met.
- We published stories on the impact of access denied that results from the lack of legal aid.
Unfortunately, our submissions have fallen on deaf ears. In fact, rather than increase, civil legal aid funding - particularly in this province - has been severely reduced.
4. The result is tragic. Every single day in British Columbia the rights of people who cannot afford legal services fall by the wayside. They cannot access the justice system. Often their shelter, health, safety, sustenance and livelihood are at stake.
5. The statement of claim filed today is on behalf of those members of our society who live on low incomes as defined by Statistics Canada Low Income Cut-offs. The group of citizens described as the poor are Canadians who lack sufficient means to obtain proper legal advice. They lack the means to obtain redress in matters where their fundamental interests are threatened. When these fundamental interests are in jeopardy, legal representation is necessary to help navigate the complexities of our judicial system.
6. The legal problems that arise are directly related to the fact that those we are talking about just don’t have money to assert their rights. Their disputes arise over access to disability pensions, employment insurance issues or marital breakdown when one parent has no income or resources and has to litigate against one who does and has a lawyer.
The inadequacies in BC Civil Legal Aid are particularly acute in the areas of family law, poverty law, immigration and refugee law. These inadequacies effectively deny access to justice to people who cannot afford legal counsel.
We at the Canadian Bar Association believe that legal aid is the key to the courthouse door. For those Canadians without the economic means, that key is beyond their reach. In British Columbia, civil legal aid has all but disappeared.
7. This case is about the Rule of Law, Equality and Independence of the Judiciary. It is also about express Constitutional Rights. It demands that all Canadians – regardless of means - be assured effective and equal access to the judicial system when their fundamental interests are at stake.
8. The case we began today is a milestone in the history of our Association. While the Courts are frequently asked to consider the right to legal counsel in individual cases, this is the first systemic challenge to a legal aid program in Canada.
9. CBA members across Canada have dedicated half a million dollars for this challenge. After careful consideration of the legal aid situation across the country, British Columbia was our choice for the litigation. It is one of the poorest civil legal aid jurisdictions in the country – a situation that affects access to justice for thousands of British Columbians.
10. The Canadian Bar Association plans to pursue this case as a full trial, relying on legal arguments that focus on the broad right to equal access to justice for the poor.
Without legal aid, access to justice is meaningless.
11. The time has come to take this crucial legal issue away from the political arena and move it to the courts to ensure that the constitutional rights of low-income people are enforced.
12. We intend to establish a constitutional right to civil legal aid in Canada.
13. I expect that this case will be hard fought, and it will be lengthy. The Canadian Bar Association, national and branches, are fully committed. We have engaged a legal team that includes constitutional scholars and experienced litigators. We mean business.
14. This is just the first step. I want to assure you that we are committed to ensuring that legal aid is available to all who need it and we are prepared to take this case all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada if necessary.
I would now ask Melina Buckley to make a statement in French.
Melina Buckley va vous addresser la parôle en français.
