DOCSLIB.ORG

Legal Aid Scramble - NOW Toronto Magazine - Think Free

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Legal Aid Scramble - NOW Toronto Magazine - Think Free Osgoode Hall Law School of York University Osgoode Digital Commons Media Mentions News and Public Relations 10-28-2014 Rough, Painful, Consensual Sex is 'Murky' Legal Area: Experts Toronto Star Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.osgoode.yorku.ca/media_mentions Recommended Citation . "Rough, Painful, Consensual Sex is 'Murky' Legal Area: Experts." Toronto Star (28 October 2014): https://digitalcommons.osgoode.yorku.ca/media_mentions/249 This Media Mention is brought to you for free and open access by the News and Public Relations at Osgoode Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Media Mentions by an authorized administrator of Osgoode Digital Commons. Legal Aid scramble - NOW Toronto Magazine - Think Free NEWS LIFESTYLE FOOD & DRINK MUSIC MOVIES STAGE ART & BOOKS LISTINGS CLASSIFIEDS HOME / NEWS / LEGAL AID SCRAMBLE LEGAL AID SCRAMBLE The city's 14 community-based legal clinics have a stark choice that justice advocates say will imperil access and decades of community-building BY SHEILA GOSTICK OCTOBER 3, 2014 4:31 PM 0 I consider The Law as dangerous, moody and capricious as the men who make it up. Accordingly, I decided a few years ago to arm myself - with the telephone number of a lawyer. I wrote it on my wrist every day until I had it memorized. When I saw the big clear posters throughout Parkdale announcing a Thursday, September 18 meeting at City Hall to discuss the GTA Legal Clinics' Transformation https://nowtoronto.com/news/legal-aid-scramble/[8/20/2015 4:05:43 PM] Legal Aid scramble - NOW Toronto Magazine - Think Free Project, a proposal to replace 14 community-based legal clinics with three mega- service-centres, I dialed the number. I got an immediate response from this dedicated individual who came to lawyering late in life and works at one of the community legal practices at risk of being killed off by the proposed "transformation." A stark choice has been forced on the clinics: they have until the end of December to respond to the proposal. Legal Aid Ontario (LAO) is attempting to remedy chronic underfunding through an amalgamation that could spell disaster for countless Torontonians already in dire straits and for whom access to the justice system is denied. "It's like closing all the walk-in clinics and telling people to go to the hospital. My clients all walk here or scooter," my lawyer says. "They don't have money for phones or TTC. Certainly not computers." As for supposed savings through the "efficiencies" that the transformation is supposed to bring, my lawyer wonders. "I have a desk, a computer and share a printer. The walls are dirty. The carpet stinks. The chairs are hard plastic so that the poor people don't infect them with bedbugs." The project's Vision Report claims poverty has moved to the suburbs and that downtown is over-served. I waded through 122 pages of Vision to find a telling line on page 85: "The intent is to treat the GTA as a blank slate and envision what would be the best way to deliver clinic services to clients." A blank slate?! More than 40 years of painstaking community- building and service. Wipe it out! How Toronto. The Vision includes a vague plan for "access points" at hostels and other community service providers, to the proposed mega-clinics. This, apparently, is called "leveraging technology." Or you could call it a fast track to frustration. A woman at the City Hall meeting described the delicate process of intake, which can help illuminate other legal concerns. "Trust is essential," she said. The executive director of Central Toronto Community Health Centres, Angela Robertson questions the direction of the LAO. "We've heard the language of ‘mega' before - mega jails...." She guarantees that her mother, who came to Canada as a domestic worker, could not have received the legal assistance she did under the proposed "triage" system. Buried within mega-schemes that affect the most disadvantaged is always the unstated assumption that because you are poor, your time is worthless. Mary Jane Mossman, professor of law at Osgoode Hall and York University, does not dispute "the need for a renewed vision" for community legal clinics. But she says specialized expertise in poverty law is best provided as a local service. Clinics can take actions to confront systemic legal problems and advocate through engagement with distinctive neighbourhoods. Community involvement and building sees clients as active participants: citizens, not just consumers. Community organizer Oriel Varga says only a local community-based clinic can recognize a pattern. If 20 or 30 people come in because they are being evicted due to, https://nowtoronto.com/news/legal-aid-scramble/[8/20/2015 4:05:43 PM] Legal Aid scramble - NOW Toronto Magazine - Think Free say, condo development, the clinic can formulate a challenge. Clinics represent the poor who "are the experts." The Legal Aid Services Act was written in 1967. In 1974 the Osler task force recommended funding for clinics. The Grange Commission looked at legal aid in 1978 to reassess and define the respective roles for clinics. Mossman argues that we need a Grange Commission for the 21st century, with a bottom-up approach to ensure social inclusion in the legal aid system. Axelle Janczur, executive director of Access Alliance Multicultural Health and Community Services, draws parallels between community health and legal clinics. Both are required to address the problems that arise from dealing with clients living paycheque to paycheque or surviving on precarious part-time work. In Toronto, one in four children live in poverty and 95,000 families are on a waiting list for affordable housing. The impact of cuts made by Mike Harris are still being felt. Refugee claimants are being denied access to welfare and health care. "There is zero research showing mergers save money or improve services. Good luck!" Janczur says. Bob Luker, former coordinator of George Brown's community worker program, speaks at the City Hall meeting of the "dance of austerity" and "institutional rationalizations" that lead to "advocacy chill" and a system that is "short on justice." The Transformation Project has it backwards and upside-down. Kevin Lee, executive director of Scadding Court Community Centre, says the proposal jeopardizes 40 years of community work in Toronto, as well as legal aid all across Ontario. He recommends calling clinics to state your concerns, and emailing Attorney General Madeleine Meilleur and LAO CEO Bob Ward ([email protected]). [email protected] | @nowtoronto https://nowtoronto.com/news/legal-aid-scramble/[8/20/2015 4:05:43 PM].
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Legal Aid in Ontario: More of the Same?
    Legal Aid in Ontario: More of the Same? Larry Taman* In December, 1973, the Government of Ontario charged the Honourable Mr Justice Osler of the Supreme Court of Ontario and six other members with the formation of a Task Force on Legal Aid. They were to "review in depth" the Ontario Legal Aid Plan and to "determine the parameters of the future direction and de- velopment in order to ensure that it has the capacity to meet its objectives in the years ahead".' Their report appeared in March, 19752 and is the subject of this comment. I shall begin with a brief history of legal aid in Ontario with particular reference to the back- ground to the Task Force. 1. Background to the Task ForceO Prior to 1951, there was no statutory legal aid scheme in Ontario. Capital offences apart, the accused, even in the gravest criminal matters, would often go unrepresented. "The so-called 'dock brief' said to exist in England, involving the appointment of counsel then present in Court to represent indigents, did not ... exist to any great extent in Ontario.' 4 It may be assumed that, notwithstanding the generosity of some individual members of the bar, legal services in civil matters were generally unavailable to those unable to pay. No doubt reassured by the appearance in Great Britain of the Legal Aid and Advice Act, 1949,' the Law Society of Upper Canada * Associate Professor of Law, Osgoode Hall Law School of York University. 'Report of the Task Force on Legal Aid, Toronto: Queen's Printer (1974) (hereinafter referred to as Report).
    [Show full text]
  • Future Directions for Legal Aid Delivery
    Future Directions for Legal Aid Delivery Envisioning Equal Justice An Initiative of the Canadian Bar Association April 2013 Standing Committee on Access to Justice Melina Buckley – Chair John H. Sims, Q.C. – Vice-Chair Sheila J. Cameron, Q.C. Amanda K. Dodge Sarah J. Lugtig Patricia M. Hebert Gillian D. Marriott, Q.C. Gaylene Schellenberg – Project Director Table of Contents 1. Foreword ................................................................................................................. 1 2. Introduction – Future Directions for Legal Aid Delivery .................. 1 3. The Road to Here ................................................................................................. 3 4. Situating the Legal Needs of People Living in Poverty ....................... 5 A. Who are we talking about? .................................................................................................................................... 5 B. Legal needs of people living in poverty ........................................................................................................... 6 C. Costs of failing to provide ...................................................................................................................................... 9 D. Conclusion .................................................................................................................................................................. 11 5. Innovations in Legal Aid Delivery .............................................................. 12 6.
    [Show full text]
  • 2018Annualreport 0
    ANNUAL REPORT 2018 15th Floor - 55 University Avenue Toronto, ON M5J 2H7 Tel: 416-960-2284, Fax: 416-960-9392 Toll-free: 1-844-755-1420 cela.ca twitter.com/CanEnvLawAssn facebook.com/CanadianEnvironmentalLawAssociation CELA works toward protecting public health and the environment by seeking justice for those harmed by pollution or poor decision-making and by changing policies to prevent problems in the first place. Since 1970, CELA has used legal tools, undertaken groundbreaking research and advocated for increased environmental protection and to safeguard communities. As a specialty clinic funded by Legal Aid Ontario, our primary focus is on assisting low-income people and disadvantaged communities. When implementing our legal aid mandate, CELA’s strategic objectives are to: • hold governments and polluters legally accountable in relation to environmental harm or adverse effects upon public health and safety; • maintain and expand citizens’ environmental rights, and improve environmental equity; • seek proactive solutions including via the precautionary principle in order to reduce or avoid activities or exposures that may harm human or ecosystem health; and • ensure timely, effective cleanup of past or present pollution to achieve improvement in public health and environmental quality. Message from the Executive Director Welcome to CELA’s 2018 Annual Report! Once again it is a pleasure to provide highlights from our work during 2018 and reflect upon our work as one of Ontario’s specialty legal aid clinics. After another busy year we are more motivated than ever to advocate for the rights of low-income and vulnerable individuals and communities. Our dedicated team represents clients from communities across Ontario in the courts and tribunals and using statutory tools to protect the environment.
    [Show full text]
  • Rights-Based Legal Aid Rebuilding BC’S Broken System
    Rights-Based Legal Aid Rebuilding BC’s Broken System by Alison Brewin and Kasari Govender NOVEMBER 2010 RIGHTS-BASED LEGAL AID: REBUILDING BC’s BROKEN SYSTEM November 2010 By Alison Brewin and Kasari Govender ABOUT THE AUTHORS ALISON BREWIN is the Executive Director of West Coast LEAF and co-author of the 2004 report Legal Aid Denied: Women and the Cuts to Legal Aid in BC. She serves as the co-chair of the Coalition for Public Legal Services. Alison graduated from UVic Law School in 1991, has worked for 20 years in non-profit management in women’s services, and has been with West Coast LEAF since 2000. KASARI GOVENDER is the Legal Director at West Coast LEAF where she manages the organization’s law reform and litigation initiatives, including projects on family law, access to justice and international standards of human rights. Before joining West Coast LEAF, Kasari practiced constitutional, equality and Aboriginal law. She earned her law degree from the University of Victoria in 2004, and her Master’s Degree in International Human Rights Law from the University of Oxford in 2010. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The authors would like to thank the women and women’s advocates who have shared their knowledge and experiences of the family law system over the years with West Coast LEAF. We also want to thank the Coalition of Public Legal Services for their efforts and success at developing a coordinated response to the legal aid crisis on behalf of low-income British Columbians. In addition we would like to thank J.P. Boyd, Brenton Walters, Zara Suleman, Seth Klein, Shannon Daub, Sarah Leavitt and the anonymous peer reviewers, for providing feedback and editorial comment on the paper in its development.
    [Show full text]
  • Legal Aid System Modernization Project 2019
    45 Sheppard Ave. East, Suite 106A, Toronto, ON M2N 5W9 T 416-487-6371 F 416-487-6456 www.salc.on.ca LEGAL AID SYSTEM MODERNIZATION PROJECT 2019 Submissions of the South Asian Legal Clinic of Ontario The Ontario Ministry of Attorney General, in partnership with Legal Aid Ontario (LAO), is conducting a review of legal aid. The initial focus of the Legal Aid Modernization Project (the “Project”) is to reform Legal Aid Services Act 1998 (LASA) legislation, which governs LAO and all community legal clinics in Ontario. The South Asian Legal Clinic of Ontario (SALCO) remains committed to working with LAO throughout this review and on an ongoing basis. SALCO submits that Ontario’s legal clinic model is a best practice for the provision on a variety of poverty law services both directly and through systemic work. SALCO also acknowledges that the model can be updated to streamline efficiency, accountability, and oversight for LAO. About the South Asian Legal Clinic of Ontario SALCO is a community-based organization that provides free legal services to and acts as an advocacy group for non-English speaking, low-income members of the South Asian community living in Ontario. We work with low-income clients from across the South Asian diaspora including Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and a number of countries in Africa and the Caribbean. SALCO was founded in 1999 to provide legal services. From 1999 – 2007 SALCO was funded for project based services by a variety of funders including the Law Foundation of Ontario and the Ontario Trillium Foundation.
    [Show full text]
  • Family and Civil Law Needs of Aboriginal People in New South Wales
    The family and civil law needs of Aboriginal people in New South Wales FINAL REPORT Chirs Cunneen & Melanie Schwartz Law Faculty, University of NSW, 2008 Acknowledgements The following people coordinated the sixteen focus groups in eight focus sites, and provided invaluable assistance in ensuring high rates of attendance: Sandra Hooper, Sharon Dykes, Tanya Carney, Dawn Blanch, Bronwyn Penrith, Simone Jolley, Evelyn Robinson, Don Clark, Jenny Beale, Clive Suey, Brett French, Phyllis Cubby, Teddy Hart. Fiona Allison provided research and organisational assistance for the project. In particular Fiona was responsible for Chapter 8 of the report. Michael Salter assisted with data entry. Acronyms ABS Australian Bureau of Statistics ACSS Aboriginal Client Services Specialist (Courts) AJSDP Aboriginal Justice Service Delivery Plan (Legal Aid NSW) ALAP Aboriginal Legal Access Program (CCLCG) ALS Aboriginal Legal Services NSW/ACT ALST Aboriginal Legal services of Toronto ARIA Accessibility/Remoteness Index of Australia ATFRS Aboriginal Trust Funds Repayment Scheme ATSILS Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services AVL Audio Visual Link AVO Apprehended Violence Order CCLCG Combined Community Legal Centres Group (NSW) CDEP Community Development Employment Projects CLC Community Legal Centre CLE Community Legal Education CLO Community Liaison Officers (LAQ and NTLAC) CLSD Cooperative Legal Service Delivery DOCS Department of Community Services (NSW) DOH Department of Housing (New South Wales) FG Focus Group FVPLS [Indigenous] Family Violence
    [Show full text]
  • Legal Aid Ontario's Toll-Free Telephone Line
    Legal Aid Ontario’s toll-free telephone line No matter where you live in the province, Legal Aid Ontario (LAO) is just a free phone call away, ready to connect Ontarians to confidential, impartial legal aid information and services. Callers can speak in confidence to an LAO client service representative. This representative can help in over 300 languages, including 18 Aboriginal languages and dialects. Services are also available to people who are deaf, deafened and hard of hearing, through Bell Relay and TTY. Our services Representatives can provide Ontarians with: • general information on the range of legal aid services available to eligible clients, how to apply for legal aid and who is eligible • referrals to other programs and services, such as duty counsel, community legal clinics, the Ontario Disability Support Program, Ontario Works, the Family Responsibilities Office, Citizenship and Immigration Canada, the Ontario Labour Relations Board, the Law Society of Upper Canada, agencies, shelters and other community resources Ontarians who qualify may be directed to other legal aid services such as: • financial eligibility assessment • legal information, applying for legal aid (LAO’s certificate program), or referrals to staff lawyers for legal advice • preparation for summary legal advice — up to 20 minutes of free legal advice and information on criminal and family law issues • updates on appeals Current clients may be directed to staff who can provide information on legal aid application status and whether a lawyer has acknowledged a certificate. They can also update their personal information How to contact LAO Call LAO’s central toll-free telephone line, Monday to Friday, from 8 a.m.
    [Show full text]
  • Legal Aid Ontario's Prison Law Strategy
    LEGAL AID ONTARIO’S PRISON LAW STRATEGY SEPTEMBER 2019 Table of contents Section Page Introduction .......................................................... 1 Incarcerated people in Ontario - jurisdictional 4 breakdown ........................................................... General needs of incarcerated people ............... 5 The role of Legal Aid Ontario ............................... 14 The legal needs of incarcerated people .............. 15 Legal aid services for incarcerated people ........... 30 What LAO heard: unmet legal needs and service 32 gaps ..................................................................... What LAO heard: barriers to access to justice .... 37 What LAO heard: recommended approaches and 39 best practices ....................................................... An ounce of prevention: Why the Prison Law Strategy represents value for money for 42 taxpayers ............................. Legal Aid Ontario Prison Law Strategy initiatives ............................ 45 40 Dundas Street West, Suite 200 Appendix Toronto, Ontario M5G 2H1 Appendix A: Stakeholders consulted ..................... 1 Toll-free: 1-800-668-8258 Email: [email protected] Appendix B: Images .............................................. 6 Website: www.legalaid.on.ca Ce document est disponible en français. Legal Aid Ontario receives financial assistance from the Government of Ontario, the Law Foundation of Ontario, and the Government of Canada. Legal Aid Ontario Prison Law Strategy 1 / 1 Introduction Introduction “No one truly knows a
    [Show full text]
  • Legal Aid Ontario Strategic Plan: 2019‑2024
    Legal Aid Ontario Strategic Plan Legal Aid Ontario 40 Dundas Street West, Suite 200 Ce document est disponible en français. Toronto, Ontario M5G 2H1 Legal Aid Ontario receives financial assistance from Toll free: 1-800-668-8258 the Government of Ontario, the Law Foundation of Email: [email protected] Ontario, and the Government of Canada. Website: www.legalaid.on.ca Contents Our plan at a glance ___________________________________________________________________ 2 Message from the CEO _________________________________________________________________ 3 What we do__________________________________________________________________________ 5 Our strategic plan _____________________________________________________________________ 6 Our values ___________________________________________________________________________ 7 Strategic goals ________________________________________________________________________ 8 Measuring our progress _______________________________________________________________ 14 What does success look like? ___________________________________________________________ 15 Our plan at a glance We will partner We will put clients at with the justice the centre of system to improve Client-centred everything we do the coordination focus and measure the and effectiveness impact to clients of services Effective Demonstrated value for collaboration money Strategic goals We will develop metrics, We will provide staff measures and report with supports they outcomes need to provide service to clients Innovative Engaged staff services We will
    [Show full text]
  • [email protected] Mr. Charles Harnick, QC Chair of the Board of Directors Legal Aid On
    May 20, 2021 VIA EMAIL: [email protected] Mr. Charles Harnick, Q.C. Chair of the Board of Directors Legal Aid Ontario Atrium on Bay 40 Dundas Street West, Suite 200 Toronto, Ontario M5G 2H1 Dear Mr. Harnick: RE: Draft Rules for the Provision of Legal Aid Services The Advocates’ Society (“TAS”), established in 1963, is a not-for-profit association of approximately 5,500 members throughout Canada. TAS’s mandate includes, among other things, making submissions to governments and others on matters that affect access to justice, the administration of justice, and the practice of law by advocates. The majority of TAS’s members practise law in Ontario. A number of TAS’s members do legal aid work, and TAS is a longstanding member of the Alliance for Sustainable Legal Aid. In TAS’s view, a well-funded, sustainable, and effective legal aid system is indispensable for ensuring access to justice for low-income and marginalized Ontarians. TAS believes that legal aid clients should be served by high-quality lawyers. Moreover, TAS recognizes that Legal Aid Ontario (“LAO”) must be prudent in its expenditure of public funds to fulfil its mandate. TAS writes this letter to respond to LAO’s consultation on the rules for the provision of legal aid services in Ontario (the “Rules”). 1. The Need for Meaningful Consultation between LAO and the Private Bar The Rules will govern the “nuts and bolts” of the legal aid system, addressing fundamental matters such as eligibility for legal aid; the establishment of the roster of lawyers who provide legal aid services; fees, billing, and payment for legal aid services; as well as LAO’s relationship with stakeholders, including legal aid clients, the private certificate bar, and community legal clinics.
    [Show full text]
  • Canadian Environmental Law Association
    September 6, 2019 Mr. Charles Harnick, Chair of the Board David Field, CEO and President Legal Aid Ontario Atrium on Bay 40 Dundas Street West, Suite 200 Toronto, ON M5G 2H1 Delivered via E-mail Dear Mr. Harnick and Mr. Field: Re: Legal Aid Services Act Modernization Consultation – Submission from the Canadian Environmental Law Association INTRODUCTION The Canadian Environmental Law Association (CELA) writes to provide further written submissions in respect of the current consultation on the modernization of the Legal Aid Services Act and legal aid services. We were pleased to participate in a number of your in-person and webinar-based consultations in August in this respect, including participation by our President Renee Griffin, and several of our Board members along with our Executive Director. These written comments are supplemental to those meetings. We have also participated in developing the joint submission sent to you today by the Specialty and Ethno-Racial Clinics and will not repeat those submissions here. We also include a list of articles (links) that were written at the request of some of the province’s legal publications this summer by CELA staff, and a recent blog for your consideration, along with media regarding the Legal Aid budget cuts to CELA. We also attach a power point presentation which was provided to your Vice-President, Clinic Law Services and her staff by CELA earlier this summer, for your information. We include these materials because, in your deliberations with respect to the project of modernizing legal aid services, we believe it is important to consider the effectiveness and value of the current services offered by community legal clinics in Ontario.
    [Show full text]
  • Legal Aid Eligibility and Coverage in Canada
    SERVING CANADIANS LEGAL AID RESEARCH SERIES LEGAL AID ELIGIBILITY AND COVERAGE IN CANADA Legal Aid Eligibility and Coverage in Canada rr03lars-5e October 2002 Spyridoula Tsoukalas Paul Roberts Canadian Council on Social Development Ottawa Programs Branch Research and Statistics Division The views expressed herein are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Department of justice Canada. Table of Content Acknowledgements........................................................................................................................iii Executive Summary........................................................................................................................ 1 Introduction..................................................................................................................................... 3 Methodology................................................................................................................................... 5 Inventory of Legal Aid Plans in Canada......................................................................................... 7 British Columbia.................................................................................................................... 8 Alberta ................................................................................................................................. 12 Saskatchewan....................................................................................................................... 15 Manitoba .............................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]