The province has averted a legal aid service withdrawal with an announcement of funding and a commitment to work with the Legal Services Society and the association representing legal aid lawyers on a long-term legal aid negotiation framework.
“With today’s announcement, Attorney General David Eby, QC acknowledged the importance to vulnerable British Columbians of lawyers who provide legal aid services and that legal aid has been historically underfunded,” said Law Society President Nancy Merrill, QC. “This is a significant shift by the provincial government, and reflects what the Law Society has been advocating in A Vision for Publicly Funded Legal Aid in British Columbia. It should help all parties reach a constructive, sustainable solution for addressing the legal needs of poor and working poor British Columbians.”
In March 2017, the Law Society released A Vision for Publicly Funded Legal Aid in British Columbia. The vision concludes that legal aid is crucial for justice in a free and democratic society and that adequate funding is needed to ensure that those who do not have resources of their own are still able to understand their responsibilities or enforce their rights.
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For further information contact:
David Jordan
Communications Officer
604.443.5708
djordan@lsbc.org