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Legal Aid Alberta set to cease operating amid dispute with province
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# 'An untenable situation': Legal Aid Alberta set to cease operating
next week amid governance dispute with province
'We're very concerned about the vulnerable Albertans who are going to
be impacted by this'
Published Jul 02, 2024 • Last updated 6 hours ago • 3 minute read
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Around 40 defence lawyers were picketing outside the Edmonton Law
Courts on Sept.2, 2022, in support of improved legal aid funding.
Photo by Jonny Wakefield /Postmedia
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The organization that provides legal representation to vulnerable
Albertans says it's set to essentially cease operations next week
after the provincial government called off negotiations to renew its
governance agreement which expired over the long weekend.
Legal Aid Alberta primarily assists disadvantaged persons and
describes itself as a publicly funded, non-profit organization that
provides affordable legal services in family law, domestic violence,
child welfare, immigration, and youth and adult criminal defence.
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Its governance agreement expired on June 30 and Legal Aid Alberta said
Tuesday that it will no longer be able to issue certificates as of
4:30 p.m. on July 9. Certificates represent a legal file assigned to a
Legal Aid Alberta lawyer.
Board chairman Ryan Callioux described the situation of operating
without an agreement as "complicated and uncertain."
"We're very concerned about the vulnerable Albertans who are going to
be impacted by this," he said in an interview with Postmedia.
"We're unclear on why the government has chosen to take this
direction. They have not provided any rationale for what they're
doing."
Legal Aid Alberta is independent from government but answers to the
minister of justice and the Law Society of Alberta and is funded by
the federal and provincial governments, as well as the Alberta Law
Foundation.
Callioux said Legal Aid Alberta reached out to the province in March
2023 to begin work on renewing the agreement.
Negotiations continued through early 2024 with a further meeting in
May scheduled to iron out any final issues before the Alberta justice
ministry cancelled the meeting without explanation, Callioux said.
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He said he received a letter from the ministry on June 27 indicating
the government wanted to take a different path and imposed a July 1
deadline to sign a new grant agreement that Legal Aid Alberta says
represents "a significant departure" from the expired governance
agreement.
That agreement would remove the Law Society of Alberta from its role
in Legal Aid Alberta and would "significantly curtail" Legal Aid
Alberta's independence and funding, according to Callioux.
"The grant agreement is skewed heavily in favour of the minister, with
almost no meaningful obligations on the part of the minister,
including any obligation to continue funding," he stated, saying Legal
Aid Alberta is now in an "untenable situation."
"It is critical that whatever the format, the independence of Legal
Aid Alberta must be sacrosanct. If it is not, the justice system will
suffer significantly."
Legal Aid Alberta is calling on the government to return to the
bargaining table to resolve the situation as soon as possible.
The office of Justice Minister Mickey Amery said in a statement that
it is important to balance access to high-quality legal aid with being
"responsible stewards of taxpayer dollars."
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"We are confident the funds we have already provided Legal Aid Alberta
are sufficient to maintain a strong roster of lawyers as well as day-
to-day operations in the coming months as we finalize a new grant
agreement."
It describes the proposed grant agreement as interim funding and
claims that Legal Aid Alberta has a $82.1 million cash balance.
Legal Aid Alberta has said it has a legal duty to preserve remaining
funds to pay employees, service providers and vendors.
In August 2022, defence lawyers in Edmonton, Calgary and southern
Alberta began an escalating job action prompted by a lack of new
funding. Three months later, the government agreed to a 25 per cent
pay increase for legal aid lawyers.
More recently, the province announced an increase to the qualifying
income threshold for no-cost legal aid in February, up to $30,000.
In 2023-24, Legal Aid Alberta received 37,000 applications for legal
aid services with about 33,500 of those approved along with thousands
more assisted in courts by a Legal Aid Alberta duty counsel, according
to the organization's annual report.
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_— with files from Jonny Wakefield_
mblack@postmedia.com
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