Shelagh Day and Gwen Brodsky have authored a study entitled: Women and the Canada Social Transfer:
Securing the Social Union (in PDF) and (website). The report explains how social assistance and legal aid have been in decline in Canada for the past decade and how this has had devastating effects on poor women. The report calls for national standards, federal legislation, and new mechanisms to rescue the social union and to meet Canada's human rights obligations.

The Supreme Court of Canada has overturned a lower court decision to scrap the provincial tax on legal fees in BC. Dugald Christie, a lawyer who helped found the Western Canada Society to Access Justice had argued that the tax discriminates against poor clients by making it harder for them to afford legal counsel. He was killed by a vehicle while riding his bike across Canada to publicize the campaign to make justice more accessible to people living in poverty. Read a CBC article about the court decision, "Top court overturns decision to scrap tax on legal fees" and Dugald Christie's blog.

The Federation of Francophone and Acadian Communities of Canada is taking the federal government to court over the government's decision to cut the court challenges program. The program set aside money for groups who wanted to challenge government decisions that affected their rights guaranteed by the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Read a CBC article on the cut to the court challenge program.

In a September 6, 2006 Canadian Bar Association release, the association reaffirmed its ongoing commitment to a constitutional right to civil legal aid and access to justice. This followed the BC Supreme Court's ruling against the association's legal aid case that focused on gaining a broader right to equal access to justice for poor people, rather than the current narrow emphasis on the right to a fair hearing or an injustice in one individual's case.

British Columbia's Legal Services Society (LSS) is loosening up their requirements for low income earners to recieve legal assistance. The new requirements are based on the Market Basket Measure which takes into account a person's net income and their assets. This new way of assessing which people meet the requirements will hopefully make legal assistance more accessible. More information about the changes are in the LSS's news release (in PDF).

Prince Edward Island's government is resisting a move by the opposition to provide legal aid funding for Workers Compensation claims. The opposition is stating that it is unfair to make Workers Compensation claimants pay for their own legal representation. The minister in charge of Workers Compensation is responding by saying that there is nothing in the legislation which permitts cases to be funded by legal aid and he states that he is unwilling to change the legislation. For more information read the CBC news story on the WCB legal aid debate.

The Canadian Bar Association (CBA) has officially launched the ground-breaking test case that will challenge the constitutional right to civil legal aid in British Columbia. The statement of claim was filed in the BC Supreme Court on June 20. "Legal aid is in crisis. This test case is vitally important to poor people. It would be impossible for a poor person to bring this case on his or her own..." said Paulette Halupa, president of the National Anti-Poverty Organization (NAPO). The CBA statement can be read online.

The Social Planning and Research Council (SPARC BC) talked to people around the province about the poverty law services that remain in place following the withdrawal of legal aid funding, and priorities for future development. The report Delivering Poverty Law Services: Lessons From BC and Abroad (in PDF) looks to other jurisdictions in Canada and abroad for insight on service delivery options appropriate in the BC context.

As a result of legal aid cuts women are losing custody of their children, giving up valid legal rights to support, and being subjected to litigation harassment, according to a new report. It finds that women are paying a greater price for BC’s deep cuts to legal services because it is primarily family and poverty law legal aid that have been affected. More information about the impacts of Legal Aid cuts on women can be found in a Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives report entitled Legal Aid Denied - Women and the Cuts to Legal Services in BC (in PDF) by Alison Brewin with Lindsay Stephens, in the CCPA's related press release or in an editorial on the issue also by Alison Brewin.

Nunavut has begun a pilot project which will expand legal aid from simply being available for criminal cases to civil ones. Due to the status of Nunavut there is not the same degree of access to lawyers and legal information. Thus the project will not only help the territories low income earners, but also increase awareness about legal rights. For more information read the CBC article about Nunavut's legal aid project.

The government of New Brunswick is amending legislation regarding legal aid, so as to make it more accessible. Their goal is to ensure that anyone who cannot afford a lawyer is able to recieve legal council. They also have promised to increase the salaries of Public Interest lawyers in order to encourage them to say in the public sector. Read the New Brunswick government's news release.

The Administrative Tribunals Act, currently in the third reading stage, according to a government press release, will create a new, comprehensive set of standards and practices for B.C.'s administrative tribunals. It directly amends many of the laws which create and regulate the tribunals before which PovNet advocates appear, including:

• Community Care and Assisted Living Act
• Employment and Assistance Act
• Employment Standards Act
• Human Rights Code
• Industrial Training Authority Act (apprenticeship)
• Labour Relations Code
• Manufactured Home Park Tenancy Act
• Mental Health Act
• Residential Tenancy Act
• Workers' Compensation Act

A backgrounder to the Administrative Tribunals Act written for anti-poverty advocates, to the new act by Jim Sayre, of the Community Legal Assistance Society, states the new Act "is unusually confusing to follow. This is because it contains some sets of alternate provisions, which are applicable to some tribunals but not others." The BC Government issued a press release regarding the act.

Dramatic cuts to legal aid to legal aid in British Columbia have left many poor people without lawyers, with troubling consequences says a Chris Tenove article in The Tyee. “I’ve seen people go to court for their third or fourth appearance and still not have a lawyer,” she says. “They haven’t even passed go yet. A lot of people are pressured to make a guilty plea, just to get out of the system.” An another Tyee news article writer Chris Tenove spoke with Attorney-General Geoff Plant on February 9, 2004, and asked about the reasoning behind the cuts and their impact on access to justice in B.C.

West Coast Women's Legal Education and Action Fund (LEAF) has launched an Affidavit Campaign to collect convincing evidence from across the province of British Columbia that reflects the true impacts of the cuts to legal aid programs on women and others most affected. The majority of those affected include women, single mothers, and people with disabilities. The goal is to make a case for the restoration of the services through law reform efforts or via test case litigation.

Anti-poverty lawyers in British Columbia are asking the BC Supreme Court to order the provincial government to provide state-funded legal representation to three people who have been sued in BC Supreme Court by the provincial government for alleged overpayment of income assistance and disability benefits. See the BC Public Interest Advocacy Centre's article regarding the issue.

The Attorney General introduced Bill 45, an Act to amend to the Legal Services Society Act in the legislature on May 1, 2002. The Bill has gone through second reading and is in Committee. This bill will result in funding cuts to the Legal Services Society and is likely to result in less legal aid accessibility.

The Legal Services Society (LSS) of BC has created a fact regarding the BC government cuts to Legal Aid funding and what this will mean for BC residents. The LSS fact sheet is availble online (in PDF.)

The BC Liberal Government's proposed 38.8% cut to Legal Aid funding made the BC Legal Services Society board of directors take drastic action. They couldn't see how they would be able to provide adequate legal assistance the British Columbians if their budget was cut so severely. The are demanding a restoration of their funding and reminding the governing party that legally they are an independent organization. Read the Legal Services Society press release (in PDF.)

Canadian Bar Association (CBA) released a study on the Constitutional Right to Legal Aid. The study is entitled Making the Case: the Right to Publicly-Funded Legal Representation in Canada (in PDF) and argues in favour of government funded legal aid. The CBA's press release regarding the report is available online.

The BC Legal Services Society issued a press release (in PDF) after the BC Liberal GOvernment responded to their requests for addition Legal Aid funding. The Government was unwilling to restore or funding to the Legal Services Society and is saying that the funding cuts will not live British Columbians vulnerable, but that the government will help Legal Services connect clients with aid outside of the court process. However, Legal Services does not think this is a realistic solution.