According to the Criminal Lawyers’ Association, a meeting with the Ontario government is scheduled for the following week in an effort to request more funds for the state’s legal aid programme.
Association president Daniel Brown says insufficient legal aid funding has led to many accused being unrepresented in Ontario courts, which in turn leads to inefficiency in the justice system and places an extra burden on the courts.
In a letter to the government last month, the group urged it to work out a strong funding scheme for the legal aid programme that keeps up with inflation.
Brown says legal aid rates for lawyers have remained the same for years, despite inflation, and that’s pushing young lawyers and lawyers from diverse communities who largely rely on legal aid cases to leave defence law practice altogether.
An inquiry for comments was not immediately answered by Ontario’s Ministry of the Attorney General.
In 2019, Ontario’s attorney general made a $133-million cut to legal aid funding, which amounted to 30 per cent of the program’s budget at the time..
Criminal Lawyers Association requesting increased funds for legal aid in Ontario
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