UPDATE: On July 5, in a joint statement, the justice minister, Legal Aid Alberta and the Law Society of Alberta announced their recently expired agreement would be extended until Sept. 5. Negotiations for a new governance agreement will continue.
A number of legal organizations are warning that Legal Aid Alberta may be forced to stop offering services to new clients because the provincial government has failed to sign a new governance agreement for the service.
“Our organizations were shocked and appalled to receive news from Legal Aid Alberta today about the government’s failure to sign the new legal aid governance agreement,” read a joint statement issued by the Criminal Defence Lawyers Association, the Criminal Trial Lawyers Association, the Southern Alberta Defence Lawyers’ Association, and the Red Deer Criminal Lawyers Association on Tuesday.
“For over 50 years, a form of governance agreement such as the one proposed by Legal Aid Alberta has ensured the operation of an independent organization providing legal services for the most vulnerable Albertans. The terms and conditions of this agreement were negotiated over several months seemingly by parties all acting in good faith.”
In a statement posted to the Legal Aid Alberta website, the non-profit’s board chair Ryan Callioux said the organization wanted to assure stakeholders his organization is “working hard to address your concerns and are mindful of your interests as we seek to remedy this situation.”
Callioux said the governance agreement “codified how we operated.”
“It secured the independence of Legal Aid Alberta, while at the same time respecting the role of government to ensure efficient use of funds, and the necessary role of the Law Society of Alberta in securing the sound practice of law in the province of Alberta. Without a governance agreement in place, our ability to conduct business is compromised.”
Callioux said despite “extensive efforts that had been invested by Legal Aid Alberta and the Law Society of Alberta in the negotiation process, and despite repeated requests for information and updates,” his organization received “no substantive communications coming from the minister’s office relating to the matters that remained for further discussion.”
He said the minister cancelled a meeting to discuss the issues in May without explanation.
“We still had reason to believe that it might just be a matter of receiving the final draft of the agreement for signatures,” Callioux said.
He said the ministry sent Legal Aid Alberta a letter on June 27 offering a new grant agreement that Callioux described as “a significant departure from the expired governance agreement” and one that he said “erodes the independence of this organization and its ability to deliver services.”
You can view Callioux’s statement in its entirety by visiting the Legal Aid Alberta website.
In a statement issued to Global News on Wednesday, Alberta Justice confirmed the current governance agreement expired on June 30.
The ministry said it is “working diligently to put in place an interim grant agreement that will ensure Legal Aid Alberta receives the necessary funding to maintain their operations.”
“As of the end of May, Legal Aid Alberta had a cash balance of over $82.1 million.”
Alberta Justice added that a grant payment of $27.5 million is being processed while the government waits for Legal Aid Alberta “to complete and return the grant agreement.”
“Alberta’s government remains committed to working with Legal Aid Alberta to ensure legal aid is well-funded to continue to provide high-quality legal aid services to Albertans,” the ministry said. “It is also imperative that we are responsible stewards of taxpayer dollars, and that funding is being spent with the best interests of Albertans in mind.
“We are confident the funds we have already provided Legal Aid Alberta are sufficient to maintain a strong roster of lawyers as well as day-to-day operations in the coming months as we finalize a new grant agreement.”
In another statement issued later on Wednesday, Justice Minister Mickey Amery said he recognizes that legal aid is “an important tool for many Albertans who may face financial barriers in accessing legal supports, and would like to reassure those Albertans that supports will continue to be available.”
Amery said grant funding to Legal Aid Alberta from the province has almost doubled over the last nine years, from $66 million in 2015 to $110 million in 2024. However, with expenses projected to surpass $138 million this year, “this funding growth is grossly unsustainable,” Amery said.
“Even more puzzling to our government is the fact that despite this massive increase in funding, Legal Aid Alberta is not materially expanding the number of clients it serves, nor is it being forthcoming with a credible explanation or details as to why this is the case,” Amery said.
Amery said beginning in March of this year, the ministry of justice, Legal Aid Alberta and the Law Society of Alberta have been negotiating a new governance agreement.
“As the current funding agreement expired on June 30, we have offered to extend the existing funding agreement to ensure the delivery of legal services by Legal Aid Alberta continues unaltered while we continue to work with Legal Aid Alberta on the new funding agreement with strengthened transparency and accountability measures,” he said.
“The Law Society of Alberta’s role as regulator of the legal profession remains unchanged, and they will continue to be involved in legal aid board governance via the bylaws of Legal Aid Alberta.
“The funds our government has already provided Legal Aid Alberta in this budget year are more than sufficient to maintain a strong roster of lawyers as well as day-to-day operations in the coming months, pending finalization of the new funding agreement. Alberta’s government remains committed to ensuring Albertans have access to legal aid services.”
Legal Aid Alberta said the new funding agreement put forward by the province late last month would see the province’s contribution come via one-year grants controlled by the justice minister.
Paul Moreau, president of the CTLA, told Global News that the previous governance agreements were already subject to close scrutiny to ensure funds were properly spent.
Irfan Sabir, the Opposition’s justice and public safety critic, issued a statement on Wednesday about the lack of an agreement.
“Legal organizations have warned that this is an impending catastrophe that will have a profound impact on the entire justice system and the lives of Albertans in their time of crisis,” his statement read in part.
“All Albertans have a right to access the justice system, no matter their financial situation. The UCP’s action will throw the justice system into crisis and put these critical services at risk.”
Moreau said he believes the government’s actions amount to a “sneak attack” on legal aid in Alberta and worries the service could be “dead in a week.”
“I’m extremely worried for vulnerable Albertans,” Moreau said. “I don’t understand what their (provincial government) problem was with legal aid in the first place, … or what they’re trying to achieve here?”
He worries the proposed grant agreement may give extraordinary power to the justice minister over what legal aid cases or projects get funded.
“We are all preparing for when the government’s actions will force Legal Aid Alberta to cease offering services to any new clients in the justice system on July 9,” the legal organizations’ joint statement read. “This will inevitably trigger a complete breakdown of an already overtaxed and under-resourced system.
“The impact will be felt more sharply by those overrepresented in the criminal justice system and more likely to be financially disadvantaged such as those who are LGBTQ2S+, racialized, and mentally vulnerable.”
“It is a central principle of fundamental justice that the person prosecuting an individual must be separate and independent from the person conducting their defence,” the organizations’ statement read. “On the terms of the government’s last-minute ultimatum, this fundamental principle would be destroyed. The impacts of this change will be greater than just affecting criminal defence matters. Legal aid funding affects the administration of family law, child welfare and immigration matters as well.
“Our organizations continue to digest these heartbreaking developments and will determine what actions we must take next. However, we stand unequivocally with the staff and management of Legal Aid Alberta and on behalf of the vulnerable Albertans we all serve.”
In a statement, the Alberta Family Lawyers Association said, it believes “the disruption in the delivery of legal aid, and possible elimination of essential legal services for vulnerable Albertans, will put the administration of justice in Alberta into a state of chaos.”
“Legal aid for family matters is often lost in the mix, the last to be funded, the first to be cut, and yet almost every family in Alberta is at some point impacted by a legal event related to family breakdown,” the AFLA statement read in part.
“Legal aid is our social safety net.”
Moreau said he hopes the government will reconsider and resume negotiations on a governance agreement.
Legal aid in the province has been jointly funded by the federal government, the provincial government and with money raised by interest on funds held in trust by lawyers.
That governance agreement, which has historically been overseen by the Law Society of Alberta, controlled how the money was spent and ensured the people who receive legal aid assistance had basic legal guarantees like the ability to choose their own representation.
Moreau said if Legal Aid Alberta is not able to offer services to new clients on July 9, he worries the result will be court backlogs that may see the provincial government need to hire lawyers privately at additional cost.
–With files from The Canadian Press’ Bob Weber