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FEATURE 24 www.lawtimesnews.com NEWSMAKERS The Law Society of Ontario's board of directors was elected in spring 2019, ushering in a wave of change in the approach to diversity and inclusion. It was clear that the election was unusual — with 128 lawyers on the ballot, the most candidates since at least the 1990s, if not earlier. Candidates covered a wide range of topics in their platforms: technology competency, funding for Pro Bono Ontario, the rural-urban divide in the profession, allocation of budget and lawyer fees, the role of paralegals in family law reform, the disciplinary system and the quality and cost of continuing professional development. But despite tireless campaigning — including the unprecedented use of social media — no topic had as much sway as the statement of principles. A slate of benchers opposed to the statement of principles, StopSOP, won 22 seats in an election that ended April 30, upending a trend that incumbents be re-elected. The election touched off renewed debate that had already dominated discourse since the SOP rule was passed in 2017. The diversity and inclusion requirement, criticized for infringing on free speech, states that lawyers must write a statement to the regulator promoting diversity and equality. After the election results rolled in, supporters of the SOP moved quickly to try and galvanize support among the benchers outside the slate, launching a group called Demand Inclusion. Members were encouraged to post on social media, write to benchers and attend Convocation meetings. The LSO Equity Advisory Group also asked benchers to delay repealing the SOP requirement until a replacement diversity program could be studied. Toronto lawyer and StopSOP member Chi-Kun Shi announced she would run against incumbent Malcolm Mercer for treasurer. But Mercer won and an uneasy compromise was reached: A less intensive equality and diversity acknowledgement will be added to lawyers' annual reports. 2 STATEMENT OF PRINCIPLES SWEEPS ELECTION AND SHAKES UP LSO Opposition to budget cuts at Legal Aid Ontario boiled over in 2019, and uncertainty persists as the bar looks to 2020. While underfunding of legal aid has long been a complaint among lawyers, 2019 marked a pivotal year for the issue. At the end of March, the Society of United Professionals reached 400 legal professional members, after the addition of Legal Aid Ontario's supervisory duty counsel lawyers. Weeks later, the provincial government announced a 2019 budget with $133 million less funding to Legal Aid Ontario — with plans to save $164 million each year starting in 2021. The dramatic cut prompted LAO to slash $14.5 million from its clinic system — representing 21 per cent of cuts across the organization, with 30 per cent coming out of LAO's global budget, 27 per cent from certificates and 22 per cent of the cuts focused on immigration and refugee services. Among the cuts to clinics were contingency funds, tenant duty counsel, landlord services and consolidated spending in Toronto. Parkdale Community Legal Services — one of the oldest clinics in the province and one that was already struggling to stay within the community — was among the hardest hit. LAO's executives said that the Parkdale clinic previously received about $109 per low-income resident, compared to the average Toronto clinic that receives about $22 per low-income resident. Lawyers rallied against the budget reduction, taking advantage of tools such as social media videos to target messages at members of provincial parliament. Protests of the legal aid cuts were hosted at Queen's Park, in the legislature, outside the office of the Ministry of the Attorney General's office and at "day of action" events across the province. Amid prodding from the province, the federal government in August pledged $25.7M to Ontario immigration and refugee legal aid. While the move was celebrated by the Law Society of Ontario and the Ontario Bar Association, clinics that worked in other legal aid-funded areas of law — such as criminal law — said they continued to scrape by with bare-bones budgets. Federal funding to immigration and refugee legal services is set to run out around March 2020, LAO estimated in October. 1 LEGAL AID CUTS SPARK OUTCRY