Legal aid boycott grows

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The Canadian Press is reporting that defence lawyers in a three more cities have joined a legal aid boycott.

Lawyers in Hamilton, Barrie and Sudbury have joined the growing boycott of the Ontario legal aid system. Thunder Bay lawyers were among the first outside of Toronto to join the boycott in June.

Lawyers want to see more money put into the legal aid system, and those who have joined the boycott will not take on homicide cases through legal aid until that happens.

Robert Gee, past president of the Hamilton Criminal Lawyers’ Association, told the Canadian Press that a lot of money has gone into policing and prosecuting guns-and-gangs cases while government-funded legal aid lawyers have seen their pay deteriorate next to inflation.

George Joseph, a Thunder Bay criminal defence lawyer, told tbnewswatch.com in June and said that most cases taken on via legal aid are done pro bono.

"We are just looking for some equity," he said in June just after Thunder Bay lawyers announced that they would be joining the legal-aid boycott. "There have been three reports on the status of legal aid. The most recent by Professor Michael Code … recognizes that a substantial amount of money needs to be infused with the legal aid tariffs (to make it of interest to) senior lawyers."

Frank Addario, provincial president of the Criminal Lawyer’s Association, has said that in the past 20 years legal aid lawyers have seen their pay rise 15 per cent while judges’ pay has jumped by 83 per cent. Crown attorney’s pay has risen about 57 per cent.

Valerie Hopper, spokeswoman for the Ministry of the Attorney General, told tbnewswatch.com in June that the ministry was aware of and intends to address the issues facing the province’s legal aid system.

"We have been working actively with Legal Aid Ontario to renew the system even within the constraints of the current global economy," Hopper said. "We will continue to work with them to do what is needed to ensure that cases are heard."

Hopper added that legal aid has received a $51 million boost over the last three years. She does admit, however, that those increases don’t necessarily fix the program’s funding issues.

With files from Jeff Labine