B.C. budget imposes further cuts to Legal Aid services
Mar 4 '10
BCGEU

More B.C. municipalities join BCGEUs call to reverse legal aid cuts

Tuesdays provincial budget imposes another million dollar cut to Legal Aid services in British Columbia. When added to last years $2 million cut, and the government order to reduce office costs by 50 per cent, the cuts will further impede public access to justice.

These cuts prove that legal aid services are not a top priority for the B.C. Liberal government," says BCGEU president Darryl Walker. "The government is responsible for making sure that we all have access to justice. These cuts continue to erode access to legal aid services for our society's most vulnerable citizens."

An increasing number of municipalities are joining the BCGEUs call to reverse legal aid cuts and re-open offices in regional centres, to provide local access to legal services and advice in B.C. communities. To date, municipal councils in Vancouver, Kamloops and Nanaimo have passed resolutions calling on the provincial government to improve funding for the legal aid system in British Columbia.

Municipal councils are the first to feel the effects of service cuts in local communities, said Walker. The recent Throne Speech referred to improved access to justice, but what we are seeing instead is the closure of important legal aid centres and telephone services across the province.

In a letter to the BCGEU dated February 23, the Attorney General Ministry claimed that the government has not reduced its funding for legal aid even claiming that funding has increased since 2005. However, the 2010 budget confirms that legal aid funding was cut by $2 million last year, and will be reduced by a further $1 million in 2010/11.

The ministry also fails to acknowledge that the B.C. Liberal government imposed devastating cuts to legal aid services in their first term cutting Legal Aid budget by 40 per cent, forcing the closure of 12 branch offices. Women have suffered more than most under these cuts, with family and poverty law services being severely restricted or eliminated.