BC’s legal-aid lawyers threaten service withdrawal over gov’t funding
Posted July 3, 2014 6:35 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – Lawyers who provide legal aid in British Columbia are once again threatening to withdraw their services and begin a long-term protest over government funding.
The Trial Lawyers Association of BC plans to withdraw services from July 5 to Aug. 8 and resume action in early October, continuing indefinitely with similar protests for one week at the start of every month.
The association’s Bentley Doyle says many people who should be getting legal help are no longer getting it, because of a lack of funding.
“It’s become far too difficult for citizens to qualify for legal aid. There are too few services covered. Two out of three people are denied coverage by the Legal Services Society. The society is tied with the budget it has.”
Doyle insists using tax revenue is the answer.
“The provincial government continues to collect a tax on legal services. That tax generates more than $144 million annually. It was going to fund legal aid, but it’s never happened that way.”
BC’s trial lawyers began similar job action in January 2012 but suspended their protest one year ago to get talks started with the province’s new justice minister.
Last October, Attorney General Suzanne Anton announced child-protection cases would go ahead, even though legal-aid lawyers had raised concerns earlier that the government didn’t have the money to pay them.
