'We are starving the courts': B.C. legal aid lawyer calls attention to underfunding of justice system
During our discussion on reinventing the Canadian criminal justice system, Judith Wilson from Gibson, B.C., called to share her perspective as a legal aid lawyer. She says the underfunding of the justice system and of legal aid has led to a belief that the government does not care about those served by the legal system — especially the poor.
Listen to her conversation with host Duncan McCue:
Judith Wilson: What I hope to contribute today to your conversation is the piece that has to do with legal aid. I can speak mainly for British Columbia because that's where I live. We have had a rather egregious situation going on here for a very long time. It's been 23 years since there's been an increase in the rate paid to individuals doing legal aid in British Columbia. It is sad for those of us that practice legal aid and the real question is: why are we still doing it? Lots of our friends and other colleagues have decided not do it because it's not a lucrative way to practice law. It is a signal of what's really happened in the courts. The courts are starved. They have been starved of judges. They have been starved of court house resources. They are starved of time for even existing judges to do their jobs.
As a legal aid lawyer, I don't get paid properly because we've had 23 years of governments that decided other things are more important. If we're going to get past this idea that we can do justice on the cheap, there has to be a recognition that we are starving the courts. In the court that I practice in British Columbia, I think we have absolutely fabulous people working. We have great judges; we have really dedicated prosecutorial staff. I don't practice criminal law, but I see them come in with their stacks and stacks of files and I know that they're working incredibly long hours to try and make things happen.
Duncan McCue: That is another thing that the Senate report recommended fixing — the legal aid system. They suggested undertaking a full-scale review of legal aid plans because there isn't enough funding. Can you walk us through how challenging it is from a lawyer's perspective to take on legal aid cases?
JW: The base rate in British Columbia for a lawyer to be paid for legal aid work is $83.90 an hour. Your average rate for a normal lawyer is not less than $250 generally. Even beginner lawyers don't see their rates below $200. That just barely covers the costs of an office, any assistants you have, all the expenses you have in running a business. At the end of the day, a lot of people who practice legal aid do it as part of their practice, and the rest of their practice is subsidizing it. We have in British Columbia, a seven per cent tax on lawyer fees that have been collected for a long time. While it was supposed to go to legal aid, it goes into general revenues. If that seven per cent were provided to legal aid, it would largely solve the problem, at least in British Columbia.
The complacency that is out there in the B.C. government has given way to despondency — a belief that government does not care, that the people served by the justice system are not a priority, [and] certainly that the poor are not a priority.
Judith Wilson and Duncan McCue's comments have been edited and condensed. You can hear their full conversation above. This online segment was prepared by Ilina Ghosh on June 19, 2017.