$70M boost to Legal Aid seen as important step
By Jeremy Appel on October 12, 2018.
jappel@medicinehatnews.com @MHNJeremyAppel The executive director of the Central Alberta Community Legal Clinic, which is responsible for co-ordinating legal services for low-income people in Medicine Hat, says the provincial government’s Thursday announcement of $70 million in additional funding for Legal Aid is a clear step in the right direction. The funding increase is slated to occur annually over the next four years, beginning with a $14.8-million increase for 2018-19. “Legal Aid has been struggling for a lot of years in trying to get stable funding,” said Kathy Parsons, who was part of the consultation process as a Legal Aid stakeholder. “It’s somewhat fluctuating because of its nature, so naturally any news that means they have more stable, as well as increased, funding is good news for the community.” There’s always room for additional Legal Aid funding, Parsons said. “Whether that’s exactly enough, I don’t know for sure, but it’s certainly a lot more money than they’ve had to deal with in the past,” she said. “It’s one of those situations where you could throw hundreds of millions of more dollars at it and it probably still wouldn’t be enough.” Premier Rachel Notley said in her announcement that increasing Legal Aid will provide a necessary boost to Alberta’s most vulnerable. “Whether it’s a parent fighting for child support, or a survivor of domestic violence fleeing an abusive partner, fairness before the courts shouldn’t depend on the size of a person’s bank account,” Notley said, adding that the goal is to ensure the “justice system works for everyone.” According to the government, 60,000 Albertans accessed Legal Aid in the past year, with more than a third of those cases serving family matters. The Alberta government, Legal Aid Alberta and the Law Society of Alberta have a tripartite agreement for providing legal services to low-income and vulnerable people. “This agreement is critical to a fair, effective and accessible justice system,” said Justice Minister Kathleen Ganley. Beginning next year, eligibility guidelines will be indexed to inflation, she added. “It’s not very often that you bring a bunch of lawyers together and they all have smiles on their faces,” said Kevin Feth, chair of the Law Society of Alberta Legal Aid Negotiating Team. “The new agreement is an innovative, responsive and modern framework that will help deliver necessary legal services to Albertans. “Simply put, it is the most dramatic improvement to the Legal Aid plan in 40 years.” 17
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