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The B.C. Government and Service Employees’ Union is sounding the alarm over changes to the legal aid system in this province that will see the closure of five regional offices, including the one in Kelowna.
Four full-time jobs will be axed here as a result of the cut, which is intended as a money-saving measure, the union says, and will make it harder for low-income earners to access the legal system. Legal aid is offered primarily to low-income people who can’t afford a lawyer, but other advice services are available to just about everyone.
Chris Bradshaw, a spokesman for the BCGEU, said the five regional offices will be replaced by local agents, who are essentially “contract lawyers.” Local agents are already available in 22 centres around the province.
“The problem with that of course is that not everyone needs to speak to a lawyer right away at $100 an hour or whatever lawyers charge,” Bradshaw said.
“There’s a lot of services that are provided in the (legal aid) office that are provided by paralegals and staff to members of the public at far less cost than what lawyer’s would charge. It’s really a community resource.”
While a spokesman for B.C.’s Legal Services Society did not return calls for comment this afternoon, a press release confirmed the switch to local agents is meant as a cost-saving measure, but noted there would also be an expansion of a provincewide call centre.
“These changes will reduce our operating costs so that we can put more money into services such as free legal information, advice in courthouses for people who don’t have lawyers, and legal representation in more serious matters,” stated executive director Mark Benton.
“I, along with the board of directors, recognize that these changes will have a significant impact on our staff who have provided excellent service to low-income people in their regions, but we see this as needed to sustain and improve the broad range of information, advice and representation services we offer to individual British Columbians,” he continued.
The press release says 58 jobs will be lost as a result of the cuts, which also extend to civil law programs. It notes the society’s long-term plan includes “a continued emphasis on core legal aid services in family law, immigration law, child protection and criminal law.”
Bradshaw said the office closures, in Kelowna, Kamloops, Prince George, Victoria, Surrey and Nanaimo, are expected by the end of March 2010. An office in Terrace will remain open.
The latest cut follows one in January that trimmed 38 jobs in the Lower Mainland, as well as 40-per-cent cuts to legal aid during Premier Gordon Campbell’s first term in office.
The Legal Services Society received $65 million in provincial funding in 2008, which made up the bulk of its budget.
joe@kelowna.com
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