At 54, Ellen Bayens has filled many roles: teacher, medical lab tech, wife and, currently, stay-at-home mother of two. These days, one challenge consumes her life.
At the Victoria Law Courts, the Saanich woman is fighting for spousal support from her husband B次元官网网址� a struggle she never anticipated. She fears sheB次元官网网址檒l soon be facing it on her own, as cuts to legal aid in British Columbia continue.
B次元官网网址淢y whole world has been altered by the process because the people who you think you can count on to help you B次元官网网址� without the funding, they canB次元官网网址檛,B次元官网网址� she said.
Last fall, veteran lawyer Leonard Doust, leading the Public Commission on Legal Aid B次元官网网址� an independent group representing six legal bodies, including the Law Society of B.C. and the Victoria Bar Association B次元官网网址� travelled the province collecting submissions from those in need of legal aid.
In his report, B次元官网网址淔oundation for Change,B次元官网网址� released Tuesday March 8, Doust makes nine recommendations for how the system can be made more accessible, including re-establishing regional aid offices and making legal aid an essential service.
B次元官网网址淚t is an absolutely essential social service,B次元官网网址� Doust said in an online address, posted to the commissionB次元官网网址檚 webpage. B次元官网网址淲ithout it, people can be, and indeed they are B次元官网网址� deprived of the other essential services in our province, particularly social welfare. ItB次元官网网址檚 like the four-legged chair missing one leg: it falls.B次元官网网址�
For the most part, Legal Services Society of B.C. agrees with DoustB次元官网网址檚 findings. In a response to the report, the societyB次元官网网址檚 spokesperson Brad Daisley calls legal aid in B.C. inadequate.
B次元官网网址淟SS also endorses the recommendation that legal aid must be recognized as an essential public service and that significantly more funding is needed,B次元官网网址� he writes.
Despite the general acceptance of the report, Daisley makes clear in the statement that the report was not conducted by the LSS and does not necessarily reflect an accurate image of the current state of legal aid in B.C.
Between April 1, 2009, and March 26, 2010, the society saw funding cuts to family law, including dispute resolution and category one criminal law -- offenses such as breach of probation or failure to appear. Immigration and refugee law services were also cut.
B.C. Attorney General Barry Penner recently questioned the financial practicality of DoustB次元官网网址檚 recommendations.
The report will be reviewed by the next attorney general, as selected by premier-designate Christy Clark next week.
Meanwhile, Bayens attends regular counselling sessions through a transition house to help manage her stress.
A victim of abuse, she is uneasy sharing the details of her complex legal situation but has chosen to be among those speaking up and pushing for change.
B次元官网网址淢ost women abandon the process because the process itself is so damaging, and I can certainly attest to that,B次元官网网址� she said.
B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 systemic discrimination against people who are unable to fund their own justice.B次元官网网址�
Legal aid, but at what cost?
Leonard DoustB次元官网网址檚 call to action for increased legal aid services may be applauded by some, but not the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.
Gregory Thomas, spokesperson for the federation, said citizens shouldnB次元官网网址檛 be on the hook for the $47 million in recommendations suggested by the Commission on Legal Aid.
B次元官网网址淭axpayers donB次元官网网址檛 trust defence lawyers to do the right thing with their legal aid money,B次元官网网址� Thomas wrote in an email to the B次元官网网址.
B次元官网网址淟ook at the B.C. Rail trial B次元官网网址� the two defendants pleaded guilty, but not before seven years of legal wrangling that earned their defence lawyers $6 million.B次元官网网址�
Thomas also quoted the Pickton trial B次元官网网址� where the serial murdererB次元官网网址檚 defence lawyers billed taxpayers $11.7 million.
B次元官网网址淚f defence lawyers ran legal aid, we would need to close every school and hospital in the country, because there would be no money left for anything else,B次元官网网址� he said.
nnorth@saanichnews.com
