“If anyone needs support on legal aid, feel free to call my office. I will guarantee you that you will have legal aid”
Premier Doug Ford stated these words shortly after the release of his new Ontario budget. While Ford is a man of many words, his words hardly align with his vision for a prosperous Ontario- a vision that not many people, such as new immigrants and refugees, are able to share.
In the Ontario budget released earlier this month, Legal Aid Ontario’s (LAO) funding was $133 million less for this fiscal year than the $456 million that LAO had anticipated. By virtue of these budget cuts and Provincial funding instructions, the Legal Aid Office announced that its services would no longer be available to immigration or refugee claimants. The remaining LAO services, largely comprised of assisting the completion of basic forms to start the refugee claim status, would still be available, since they would be funded by federal money.
While this is only one of many cuts in Ontario, this one is especially disheartening considering its abruptness and totality. The words “legal aid” explicitly outline an intention to provide legal representation for those without the resources or finances to secure such representation. Without a doubt, immigrants and refugees are two groups inevitably in need of legal aid, having made long, arduous journeys to a country that is foreign to them. While the constant challenge of making the most out of a limited budget is not unknown to LAO, the cuts in this case are not ambiguous in their nature, but rather clearly target and downgrade services provided to these two vulnerable group.
However, the totality of Ford’s cuts represent no such good faith and it would be a stretch to provide the government with any benefit of the doubt. Although the logic for such cuts is based on saving money, Ford’s cuts will serve to make the judicial system an even greater maze for people whom represent themselves and arrive without any external legal assistance. While the most complete cuts are to services for immigrant and refugees, the general cut to LAO’s budget will also make it harder for other underprivileged groups to gain legal representation. Criminally accused, family law claimants, and others whom depend on legal aid will have little legal guidance, and will add further stress to the judicial system in general.
With such categorical cuts, “legal aid”, in the eyes of Ford, is no longer an open resource for all of Canadian society. Rather, legal aid- especially that provided to refugees and immigrants- is only afforded to certain people.
While such criticism of Ford’s cuts may seem one sided, Ford’s own representation of the cuts does not do much to dissuade the criticism. In an interview, Ford stated his dissatisfaction with what was apparently the inefficient utilization of funding by Legal Aid Ontario. Ford stated that if “[Legal Aid] actually looked into it, there is more money being spent on lawyer fees and less cases” and stated that his cuts were justified since they “[would] hold these people accountable.” Ford concludes by stating that, “when there’s more money to the lawyers and less money to the people, I’ve got an issue with it.”
While many agree that LAO services could be more efficient, Ford’s belief that his cuts are helping the “little guy” are either formed on the basis of extremely misguided beliefs or a blatant political fib. Either way, cutting funds for LAO does not increase the efficiency of lawyers. LAO is not a business where money is the only or primary incentive for the practicing lawyers. Rather it is a legal service provided by lawyers to increase access to justice, similar to how open clinics provide access to healthcare. While Ford is right in the aspect that what Legal Aid offers is rather intangible legal services, he neglects to mention that such services cost money and simply taking away that money does not increase efficiency. Rather, when there is less money, the ability to provide such services will in all likelihood decrease. Decreasing funds to doctors would not increase their efficiency, and thus, the same logic applies to LAO. In the larger picture, cutting such funds will only harm the “little guy” that would be lost without LAO, decreasing the efficiency of our legal system.
Ford’s cuts to LAO are not simply a disappointing decision, but also a dismaying product of misguided and erroneous views. This disappointingly goes against what have long been basic tenets of access to justice. While Ford’s cuts to Legal Aid harm access to justice, the totality of his cuts to services for immigrants and refugees most clearly underscore his ignorance when it comes to the greater societal benefit of providing legal aid.
If you would like to act on Ford’s personal guarantee and contact his office, you can do so below.
Office of Premier Ford: 416-325-194; premier@ontario.ca
Premier Ford’s Phone Number: 416-805-2156
Please note that opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the views and values of The Blank Page.
