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May 17, 2008 - 11:47pm
Legal Aid News FeedMarch 22, 2007 - 9:13am
The following articles are fed through PovNet from outside mainstream and independent news sites, advocacy organizations, non-profits and government sites with the keywords legal aid. These stories are not moderated and do not necessarily reflect the views of PovNet. Spring 2008 - Bafflegab: Community Advocacy & Legal Centre NewsletterTopics in this issue include housing and consumer information, Special Diet Allowance, Human Rights process restructuring, Legal Aid Ontario's Aboriginal justice strategy, the end of Back-to-School and Winter Clothing Allowances, social assistance rate restructuring and the Ontario Child Benefit, vulnerable workers, and Criminal Injuries Compensation Board review. Fate of Nunavut young offenders worries legal aid lawyersLegal aid lawyers in Iqaluit say they are concerned about the well-being of young offenders if the Nunavut government moves them out of the Young Offenders Facility. Head of Legal Aid takes job in TorontoThe executive director of Legal Aid Manitoba has resigned to take a job in Toronto after months of butting heads with the NDP-appointed chairman of the agency's board of directors. Gerry McNeely confirmed Wednesday he has been hired as the director of Ontario's new Independent Police Review System, an arm's length body that will vet complaints against municipal and provincial police. Scales of justice unfairly tiltedIt is hard to criticize a government that ponies up additional money to meet an immediate need, even if the amount of money is completely insufficient for the size of the problem. Such is the dilemma posed by Manitoba Legal Aid. This week, the province announced an additional $2 million to increase legal aid hourly rates for private bar lawyers by 40 per cent. Lawyers too few to handle the needA 40 per cent pay raise for legal aid lawyers is being applauded for improving access to justice for the province's poor. But the hike is clearly not the silver bullet for a legal system that suffers from a lack of lawyers in northern and rural communities and a serious backlog in the courts. Evan Roitenberg, president of the Criminal Defence Lawyers' Association of Manitoba, said he's optimistic the higher wage will increase the number of lawyers willing to take legal aid work outside the Perimeter Highway. Low legal aid fees won't deter St. John's lawyersChanges included in the province's planned overhaul of the justice system won't stop some St. John's lawyers from taking high-profile cases. Legal Aid rates boosted 40%Legal Aid Manitoba will hike its hourly wages by 40 per cent in an attempt to boost the number of private bar lawyers representing the province's poorest people, the Free Press has learned. Lawyers handling criminal and family law matters for the government-funded organization will now receive $80 per hour, up from the $57 per hour they've received for the past three years. Quebec legal aid still out of reach for many: groupsQuebec Justice Minister Jacques Dupuis said he has no plans to broaden access to legal aid, despite pressure from opposition parties, a coalition of lawyers and social rights advocates. 60% support legal aidAn Ipsos Reid poll in March found about 60 per cent of the
730 B.C. residents questioned expressed strong support for legal aid
services in the province. Legal aid not a right, court rulesThe B.C. Court of Appeal has backed B.C. Supreme Court Chief
Justice Don Brenner's decision to kill the Canadian Bar
Association's landmark attempt to force governments to provide
adequate civil legal aid to poor people. Crown opposes Toronto lawyer for man charged with 3 murdersA man charged with three counts of first-degree murder shouldn't be allowed to use legal aid money to hire a lawyer from Toronto, the Nunavut Legal Services Board and the Crown argued in a Nunavut court on Thursday. Legal aid for whistle-blower site | BBC“The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Electronic Frontier Foundation are planning to “intervene” for Wikileaks at the continuation hearing.” Killer cop's $1.2M legal aid bill a 'fiasco'Ontario's watchdog has blasted the legal aid system over the Richard Wills murder case, calling it a "financial fiasco" and an "abuse of public money" that could be repeated if immediate changes are not made to the law. Ombudsman blasts Legal Aid Ontario for funding of killer's defenceOntario's ombudsman has condemned Legal Aid Ontario for "catastrophic" errors in judgment in the financing of the $1 million defence of former Toronto police officer Richard Wills. Ombudsman blasts Legal Aid Ontario for funding of killer's defenceOntario's ombudsman has condemned Legal Aid Ontario for "catastrophic" errors in judgment in the financing of the $1 million defence of former Toronto police officer Richard Wills. Defence bill rising in terrorism caseTORONTO -- The price tag to defend 14 men arrested in
Canada's largest terrorist sweep could exceed $8 million, according
to a letter sent from Legal Aid Ontario to lawyers representing the
accused. The men were arrested in the summer of 2006 amid
allegations they with conspiring to storm Parliament Hill, take
politicians hostage, and use bombs made of fertilizer to blow up
offices of CSIS the RCMP and CBC. Defence in 'al-Qaida' case may cost more than $8mTORONTO -- The price tag to defend 14 men arrested in
Canada's largest terrorist sweep could top $8 million, says a letter
from Legal Aid Ontario to the men's lawyers. Cost of defending terror suspects up to $8mTORONTO -- The cost of defending 14 men arrested in Canada's
largest terrorist sweep could exceed $8 million, according to a
letter sent from Legal Aid Ontario to lawyers representing the
accused. Firms battle to hire lawyersTHE hot economy and heightened competition for skilled workers have spilled over into the legal sector, prompting local firms to sweeten their offers to articling students to keep them from greener pastures in Calgary and Toronto. The growing battle for home-grown talent is likely to put further pressure on the pay scale at Legal Aid Manitoba, which has been facing a critical shortage of lawyers to handle criminal and family-law cases for the province's poorest people. Dave Hill, managing partner of Hill Dewar Vincent, said while local firms might have been successful in recent years offering articling students an annual salary in the mid-$30,000 range, aggressive recruiting from national players is pushing the wage scale up. 
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"We can all retire when our phones quit ringing and people quit needing help."
Cecile Guay, Advocate Dawson Creek, BC Search PovNetPovNet Hint!If you would like to search news, online resources, links, gov't info and applications/forms by region as well as topic, please use our search pages. |
