BC Institute Against Family Violence Media Releases
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BCIFV home > Media Releases > March 4, 2002


For Immediate Release: March 4, 2002
Contact: Penny Bain, phone: 604-669-7055 or 1 877-755-7055 or
pbain@bcifv.org or www.bcifv.org

Media Release:
BC Government to Pocket, Not Spend, Funds it Receives to Pay for Legal Aid

The recent closure of all 60 legal aid offices in BC will increase government revenues while virtually eliminating access to justice for many British Columbians, says Penny Bain, Executive Director of the BC Institute Against Family Violence. Among those hardest hit will be women and children fleeing abusive relationships, who often have no money to pay for legal services while their abusers do, putting them at an advantage and perpetuating the risk of abuse.

"The provincial government currently collects over $100 million annually from the provincial tax on lawyers' fees and federal transfer payments for legal aid," says Bain. "The government proposes to reduce funding for legal aid by 40 percent, to $54 million annually, over the next three years. By the time these cuts are fully implemented, the government will be collecting almost twice as much for legal aid as it actually spends on legal aid."

Adding insult to injury, Bain adds, "any legal challenges to the cuts will be defended at taxpayers' expense. All areas of legal aid have been hard hit but poverty law services have been eradicated." "I cannot overstate the Institute's concern over this matter," says Bain. A lawyer and former senior manager of the Legal Services Society, Bain notes that the LSS is an independent body. Yet within 72 hours of an order-in-council removing the duly appointed, independent Board of Directors, newly appointed trustee Jane Morley, QC, implemented the government's massive budget reductions with no consultation whatsoever with those who deliver or receive legal aid.

Frances Grunberg, Chair of BCIFV's Board of Directors, has sent a strongly worded letter to the Honourable Geoff Plant, Attorney General, copied to Jane Morley, protesting the closure of legal aid offices and warning of the impact this will have on women and children attempting to leave violent situations. A copy of that letter accompanies this release.

For more information, contact Penny Bain, Executive Director of the BC Institute Against Family Violence at 669-7055 or
1 877-755-7055, pbain@bcifv.org or www.bcifv.org.

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