Alberta lawyers are threatening to stop Legal Aid Alberta (LAA), the province’s legal aid program, for failing to comply with a government agreement.
This is particularly the case of Deborah Hatch, a defense attorney who was not included in the program on May Day after nearly 25 years of participation.
I believe one hundred lawyers refused to sign the contracthe explained. I know many lawyers who are not yet ready to sign such a bad contract.
The promise of a legal aid drain is less clear, however, according to attorney Paul Welke, who doubts that a hundred of his colleagues refused the agreement.
Our numbers change from week to weekhe says. We have lawyers participating [au programme] per month. There are people retiring or leaving us every month … so I don’t know if we’re going to have a peak or a trough.
About 1,200 attorneys are currently enrolled in legal aid, according to the program.
Changes requested by some
In December, Deborah Hatch and 11 other senior lawyers in Edmonton and Calgary sent a letter to Legal Aid Alberta president, Queen’s Counsel Gianpaolo Panusa, asking her to renegotiate and amend the proposed contract.
In particular, the letter cited a proposed policy in the agreement that was found to be offensive to Mr. Hatch. The LAA may suspend or remove me from the workforce at any time, without notice or fault.he wrote.
According to him, this policy is unequal, nakakaloka at no respect.
In this letter, Legal Aid Alberta responded that there was no negotiation and that if the lawyers decided to leave legal aid, it would failure.
If I were the head of Legal Aid, I would be afraid of losing so many experienced lawyers at once.said Deborah Hatch. I would really worry about the impact it would have on the administration of justice in Alberta.
There is no rate increase for legal aid lawyers
While the latest provincial budget provides a salary increase for Crown attorneys, Legal Aid Alberta does not provide any increase in the hourly rate of $ 92.40, Paul Welke explains.
There has been no discussion about the potential budget increase program, he said. Our funding comes entirely from the Department of Justice and the Alberta Government.
Many lawyers think the funding should increaseDeborah Hatch believes in part.
The ministry did not respond to Radio-Canada’s requests for comment.
With information from Janice Johnston
Source: Radio-Canada
