Legal Aid Alberta CEO should consider resigning over controversial op-ed, say striking defence lawyers
"Skilled legal counsel is available only because our members prop up a broken system, doing work for which we will never get paid," association president says
Author of the article: Jonny Wakefield
Publishing date: Sep 02, 2022 •
The leader of an Edmonton defence lawyers’ group says the province’s legal aid boss appears to have taken the government’s side in a funding fight that’s seen hundreds of them refuse new cases.
Around 50 defence lawyers picketed the Edmonton courthouse Friday morning, the latest escalation in their push for improved legal aid funding and broader financial eligibility guidelines for needy Albertans.
The demonstration comes one day after John Panusa, president and CEO of the arm’s length Legal Aid Alberta, authored a controversial op-ed that compared the job action to a natural disaster and the pandemic.
“If you aren’t willing to do what is right, Mr. Panusa, if you aren’t going to fight for the most vulnerable people in this province, then what Albertans deserve is your resignation,” Criminal Trial Lawyers’ Association president Danielle Boisvert said.
Legal Aid Alberta is funded by the provincial and federal government as well as from interest earned on lawyers’ trust accounts. Defence lawyers have long been frustrated with what they see as stagnant rates that don’t compete with other provinces and make all but the poorest Albertans ineligible for the service.
While legal aid “tariff” rates in some cases pay upwards of $90 an hour, Boisvert said cases are assigned a set number of hours regardless of how long a task actually takes. Unlike in the U.S., where governments directly employ public defenders, Alberta defence lawyers are independent businesses who must pay for their own staff and overhead.
“Skilled legal counsel is available only because our members prop up a broken system, doing work for which we will never get paid,” Boisvert said.
The unrest boiled over earlier this year when the provincial government agreed to new funding for judges and Crown prosecutors, who themselves threatened to strike. Four defence lawyers’ associations across Alberta — claiming a membership of 450 — began an escalating job action Aug. 8 and as of September are refusing to accept certain criminal and appeal cases.
Panusa’s op-ed, published on Thursday, inflamed the situation in the eyes of some lawyers by claiming Legal Aid Alberta has been able to “weather” the job action through the “awe inspiring” efforts of staff lawyers, roster lawyers who are not taking job action and even lawyers from out of province.
“I’m concerned about Albertans,” Panusa wrote. “They deserve better. We can’t let marginalized people get caught in the crossfire.
“It’s in the challenging times that we discover who we really are. Whether a pandemic, flood, or threat to our safety and rights, we take care of one another — and Legal Aid Alberta won’t stop, especially when Albertans need us the most.”
Boisvert said the op-ed “appears” to take the side of the UCP government, which says it won’t increase funding until 2023 after a review of the legal aid tariff system.
Others were more blunt, with defence lawyer Chad Haggerty tweeting the op-ed was “tone deaf, uninformed horses–t.”
Legal Aid Alberta declined to comment on criticism of the op-ed, instead referring Postmedia to a webpage detailing how the agency was “continuing to serve clients and … minimize service disruptions.”
jwakefield@postmedia.com
twitter.com/jonnywakefield
Calgary
Editorial by legal aid president called 'vile,' prompts calls for resignation
Resignation calls come amid walkout job action
An opinion piece published in a Calgary newspaper by the president of legal aid sparked fury on Friday, spurring calls from a prominent Alberta lawyers' group for his resignation.
The piece came as dozens of lawyers walked out of courthouses across the province to protest the lack of progress in their fight with the provincial government for increased legal aid funding.
Legal Aid Alberta (LAA) president John Panusa penned an editorial published Thursday in the Calgary Herald which attacked the organization's "roster lawyers" — counsel who take legal aid cases.
Panusa wrote that LAA is "OK" and has "sufficient funds" to support its services.
The piece elicited a strong reaction amongst some in the legal community. In a Tweet on Thursday, defence lawyer Chad Haggerty described Panusa's piece as "vile, tone deaf, uninformed."
Following Panusa's public comments, there were calls for his resignation, a demand LAA refused to comment on.
"Albertans deserve a legal aid CEO that is going to fight for them," said Criminal Trial Lawyers' Association president Danielle Boisvert on Friday.
"If you aren't willing to do what is right, Mr. Panusa, if you aren't going to fight for the most vulnerable people in this province, then what Albertans deserve is your resignation."
Calgary's Criminal Defence Lawyers Association (CDLA) is protesting what it describes as the "critical underfunding of access to justice."
Lawyer and protest organizer Kelsey Sitar said Panusa's messaging ignores the fact that LAA relies on free or underpaid work from its roster lawyers and fails to provide many services that should be covered, leaving vulnerable Albertans to face the court system alone.
"It is the government that is obligated to ensure equal access to justice for all Albertans," said Sitar. "They cannot fulfil that obligation without help from defence lawyers."
LAA is a non-profit organization that provides legal services to Albertans in family, domestic violence, child welfare, immigration and criminal defence cases.
The lawyers, represented by organizations in Calgary, Edmonton, Red Deer and southern Alberta, launched a job action on Aug. 8 when they started refusing to accept certain legal aid cases.
'We are not going to do court without them'
Friday's walkout saw more than 100 lawyers and supporters gather outside courthouses across the province as they refused to work for 90 minutes.
Between 9 and 10:30 a.m., judges presiding over docket court stood down proceedings, waiting for counsel to return.
Some even seemed to support the action, refusing to start calling the list of accused until defence lawyers returned.
"We are not going to do court without them," said Court of Queen's Bench Justice Alice Wooley as she adjourned for an hour.
Earlier this month, Joseph Dow, Justice Minister Tyler Shandro's press secretary, said Alberta offers more legal aid services than other jurisdictions and that since 2015, the government has increased funding to LAA by 47 per cent.
But according to figures from LAA's annual reports, provincial government funding increased by 47 per cent between the 2015-16 and 2018-19 fiscal years, but decreased for the next two years.
Shandro not entitled to 'his own facts'
The province hasn't delivered on a 2018 funding commitment, now in arrears at $80 million, according to a statement released by a number of defence lawyer groups this week.
"It is dumfounding that Minister Shandro continues to suggest that legal aid funding has increased since 2015," said Sitar.
"Like anyone else, the minister is entitled to his own opinions, what he is not entitled to are his own facts."
On Friday afternoon, Shandro issued a release in which he repeated Panusa's comments that Albertans still have "uninterrupted access to justice."
Justice critic attends Calgary protest
Shandro would not commit to increasing funding but said work was being done to determine if there is justification to increase funding to LAA.
"Legal Aid Alberta (LAA) and officials in Justice and Solicitor General have begun this work, and if there is evidence to support increasing the rate paid to defence lawyers, we will submit that request to Treasury Board," said Shandro in statement on Friday.
Irfan Sabir, the NDP's justice critic, tweeted his support from the Calgary rally, saying that an NDP government would fulfil the $80 million.
"The [government] must act now, release all funding in arrears and work with the lawyer's organizations to reach a fair and reasonable agreement," Sabir wrote.
Lawyer groups have 'begged for more funding'
On Thursday, the participating lawyers began to refuse new LAA cases involving the most serious criminal charges, including sexual offences, firearms-related crimes and homicides.
Boisvert called the situation a "breaking point."
"We have written letters, provided feedback, offered solutions and begged for more funding so marginalized individuals are not left to face the crushing power of the state alone," she said on Friday.
The latest job actions have seen LAA's staff lawyers, who are not experts in criminal law, taking on docket cases.
Haggerty, who is one of the protesting lawyers, said he witnessed an LAA staff lawyer attempt to deal with an accused person being held on $100 cash bail.
That person was unable to pay and the staff lawyer was proposing to adjourn the case for a month, leaving the accused in custody despite being granted bail. A senior lawyer stepped in to make alternative arrangements and the accused was released, according to Haggerty.
Meghan Grant
CBC Calgary crime reporter
Meghan Grant is a justice affairs reporter. She has been covering courts, crime and stories of police accountability in southern Alberta for more than a decade. Send Meghan a story tip at meghan.grant@cbc.ca or follow her on Twitter.Follow her on Twitter
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