PENDING LEGISLATION WILL EVISCERATE LEGAL AID IN ONTARIO

Five days ago the Waterloo Region Record carried the following story titled "The historic promise of legal aid in Ontario is dead". The authors were lawyers Daniel Brown and Louis P. Strezo. Unfortunately I can't find it on-line in order to provide a link to it. Most likely the Record have changed the title of the article since the one in my early morning edition.

Apparently the Ford government in their haste yet again to cut expenditures have picked upon the disadvantaged and the needy. "The income cut-off for those attempting to qualify for legal aid, for example, long ago fell well below the poverty line, disqualifying many needy defendants." Furthermore "The genesis of legal aid dates back to the 1960s, when concerned lawyers and judges were able to persuade politicians that the scales of justice were unfairly weighted against the accused."

The new legislation guarantees "...only to fund impecunious defendants in a minuscule number of criminal matters that the court must first deem to be among the most complex and serious." "The rest will face the prospect of acting as their own lawyer - a recipe for wrongful convictions and time-consuming court delays. Finding themselves up against the might of the over-resourced state, these defendants will be at a colossal disadvantage."

Earlier this year $133 million was cut from legal aid's budget. Another $33 million had been slated to be cut in 2020 although this is now on hold. I have long suggested that our courts, especially our civil courts are simply playgrounds for the wealthy and privileged in our society. Our criminal courts are being filled with underrepresented and disadvantaged individuals who are cannon fodder for the criminal justice system. Public defenders and para legals may well do their best and attempt to assist but could end up in "...areas of the law in which they are insufficiently trained to act."