An Analysis of Poverty Law Services in Canada

Executive summary (continued)

Strengths and challenges of the poverty law legal aid system

The following discussion summarizes legal aid respondents' comments concerning what is working well and what is not working well within the poverty law system in their jurisdiction.

Table 6: Problem areas
Thematic Problem Areas Jurisdiction6.*
B.C. Alta. Man. Ont. Que. N.S. N.W.
Funding Issues X   X X X X X
Coverage Issues   X   X X X X
Visibility of Legal Aid   X   X      

6.* Information for this section of the report was not collected for Newfoundland as a result of the inability to make contact with respondents during the second phase of this project.

Funding issues

Respondents from six jurisdictions highlighted the limited funding available for poverty law - or for legal aid in general - as a problem area. B.C. representatives pointed to the recently announced cuts as a source of concern, while in Manitoba a lack of financial resources was identified as the key reason why the Poverty Law Office model has not been expanded. Respondents in Ontario reported that the increase in poverty law case volume, without any additional funding, is creating pressure on available services. Ontario representatives also highlighted a lack of funding for administrative tribunals.

Limited financial resources were identified as a reason for the lack of poverty law legal aid coverage in Quebec prior to formal tribunal or appeal proceedings. Nova Scotia respondents indicated that poverty law services cannot be extended without additional funding, while representatives from the Northwest Territories insisted that a corollary of the lack of overall legal aid funding is too little support for non-core areas like poverty law.

Coverage issues

Respondents from five jurisdictions raised concerns about legal aid coverage in the poverty law area. These concerns include both the range of issues for which clients can receive assistance, and the geographic distribution of available services.

In Alberta, a respondent pointed to the lack of legal aid coverage available for landlord/tenant matters. Variation among the issues covered by individual Community Legal Clinics, and resulting geographic inconsistencies in available services, was raised as a problem in Ontario. In Quebec, legal aid representatives indicated that there is too little coverage for poverty law issues prior to tribunal or appeal processes. Representatives in Nova Scotia reported that there is simply no coverage for many poverty law issues, while respondents from the Northwest Territories suggested that there is a general lack of coverage for poverty law matters, due to resource limitations.

Visibility of legal aid

Respondents from Alberta and Ontario pointed to legal aid's lack of visibility as a problem area. In each of these jurisdictions, it was suggested that potential client groups need to know more about the legal aid services that are available.

Success stories

Respondents were asked to identify aspects of the delivery of poverty law legal services in their jurisdictions that they considered exemplary - success stories. The table below summarizes these by jurisdiction, and they are discussed in the following paragraphs.

Table 7
Thematic Success Stories Jurisdiction7.*
B.C. Alta. Man. Ont. Que. N.S. N.W.T.
Service Delivery Models X X X X     X
Community-based Approach X     X      
Comprehensiveness of Coverage   X     X    

7.*Information for this section of the report was not collected for Newfoundland as a result of the inability to make contact with respondents during the second phase of this project.

Service delivery models

Respondents from five jurisdictions pointed to various aspects of their approach to delivering poverty law services as areas of success. In B.C., the expertise of paralegals was identified as a very valuable resource. Similarly, respondents in Manitoba pointed to the Winnipeg Poverty Law Office as a success story, insofar as it has allowed more people to get some kind of assistance. In Ontario, efforts to increase legal aid area offices' awareness of Community Legal Clinic activities have yielded a more effective system of collaboration and cross-referral. The Northwest Territories reports that the private bar poverty law lawyers offer high quality services and are a valuable resource for legal aid.

Community-based approach

Respondents from B.C. and Ontario emphasized the community orientation of their network of local offices as a positive feature of the poverty law system in their jurisdictions.

Comprehensiveness of coverage

Despite the fact that poverty law is not a separate coverage category, a respondent in Alberta suggested that the coverage available for poverty law matters is relatively comprehensive. Similarly, Quebec respondents indicated that poverty law coverage is comprehensive, in terms of both range of issues and the geographic distribution of services.