Canadian Lawyer

w w w . c a n a d i a n l a w y e r m a g . c o m N O V E M B E R / D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 8 13 A L B E R T A SURGE IN LEGAL AID MONEY MET WITH CAUTIOUS OPTIMISM I n October, after months of negotia- tions, work-to-rule campaigns and even a threat of a lawyer's "strike" in Calgary, the Alberta government finally agreed to increase long-term funding for the province's struggling legal aid system. The decision to provide about $70 million in additional funding over a four-year period resulted in general, if sometime muted, applause from the legal profession, poverty organizations and unofficially from the province's overburdened judiciary. The new money will not only permit more ser- vice to more people, it also ensures that recipients of AISH — Assure Income for the Severely Handicapped — will be eligible for legal aid and opens the door to increasing legal aid fees. But there are questions about the new money. Ian Savage, head of the Calgary- based Criminal Defence Lawyers Asso- ciation, who led a six-week work-to-rule campaign among Calgary lawyers earlier in the year, called the increase "mod- est" and said "it's enough to stave off bankruptcy." While remaining wary, he did join the province's justice minister, Kathleen Ganley, at the news conference announcing the changes. Dan Chivers leads the Edmonton- based Criminal Trial Lawyers Association. Earlier this year, he called Alberta's legal aid system "a shambles." He, too, is wel- coming the new money, calling it "great." He also welcomes the new scheme's flex- ibility, "which will allow it to respond to any unanticipated surge in business." However, both Chivers and Savage remain cautious about a program that is still only a few weeks old. One big problem is that a provincial election is due next May. If the current NDP gov- ernment is defeated, there is no certainty that the new funding will remain in place, even though Savage warns that any reduction will be viewed as "provocative." University of Calgary law professor Lisa Silver shares the concerns about a change in government possibly derail- ing the increase. But she raises another, more troubling issue. "Under the new agreement, the government is definitely a partner/stakeholder in legal aid," she says. Consequently, "the government will be part of the governance structure." Silver says she fears such an arrangement might affect Legal Aid Alberta's independence because "the [justice] minister would be involved in prosecuting and in defending." Should Silver's analysis get any traction, LAA might be facing another problem just as it appears to have cleared its latest hurdle. — Geoff Ellwand R E G I O N A L W R A P

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