Alberta defence lawyers considering walking off job
Posted Aug 3, 2022 11:39 am.
Criminal defence lawyers in Alberta could soon be walking off the job if the province doesn’t meet their demand of increasing funding for legal aid.
“British Columbia and Ontario… we are drastically underpaid as opposed to our equal lawyers in those provinces,” said Danielle Boisvert, the president of the Criminal Trial Lawyers’ Association in Edmonton.
Boisvert warns such job action could lead to low-income Albertans struggling to get access to justice, resorting to defending themselves in court.
“Criminal law has become very complicated, and a self-represented litigant trying to wind their way through that system will inevitably as a result take extra time,” she said.
The province hasn’t increased funding to legal aid since 2015. Boisvert says that’s affecting lawyers’ bottom line.
“We still need to pay back our student loans, still need to pay our mortgages, all those adulting expenses,” she said.
In a statement to CityNews, Alberta Justice said a review of the program is underway and it will consider funding when the review is completed next year.
“We’re still open to meeting with him and helping him to understand the urgency and that simply lawyers are not going to wait until 2023.”
Lawyer associations in Alberta will meet Wednesday night to discuss what happens next.
