Below is a speech I delivered to the Council for the Regional Municipality of Niagara

Dear Council,

My name is Sabrina Hill. I am a resident of the city of St. Catharines. I want to thank the Council for adding me as a last-minute delegate. I am speaking before you today about an item on the agenda for today’s Council meeting, specifically agenda item 14.1, a motion from Councillor Ip.

What’s happening in Ontario

As you may already know, Ontario’s recent budget took aim at legal aid services and slashed $133mil from the already wildly deficient legal aid budget. Before those cuts, legal aid in the province was already chronically underfunded, and these additional cuts have meant the closure of many centres and the clawing back of services across the province. Many of these cuts have meant that municipalities have had to make up for the budget shortfalls. These cuts are a way to shift some of the financial responsibility from the province to already-struggling municipalities. These cuts come despite the federal government making profound contributions via targeted transfer payments to fund the various systems across the country.

The Right of an Advocate is Fundamental

With these cuts, a backlog has begun to form in our courts, and cases are being delayed indefinitely while litigants seek adequate counsel. As St. Catharines Member of Parliament, Chris Bittle, commented earlier today,

“A well funded legal system is fundamental to the principles of our democracy and the Charter of Rights. Lack of legal aid funding means more self-represented litigants, which means more delays. That may not seem like a big deal, but that’s longer for a victim of domestic violence to divorce their spouse. Longer to get to trial for a small business owner to collect a debt. Longer delays also mean more criminals don’t go to trial and have their cases thrown out for delay. The cuts by Doug Ford and the Conservatives are callous, cruel and shortsighted. Municipalities shouldn’t have to step up in this fight, but when the province abandons the most vulnerable in our society, it’s heartening to see governments act for the people.“

Fortunately, I am in a position to pay for counsel’s expertise, though I recognize, many of my fellow residents are not. Many working-class families and vulnerable persons in Niagara do not have the means to retain an expensive attorney, especially if the decision comes down to either retaining an advocate or buying groceries that month.

A quote from the American lawyer and former Attorney General Janet Reno, “the keystone to justice is the belief that the legal system treats all fairly.” With the continuing assault on Ontario’s legal aid system, we are witnessing the slow death of a cornerstone of our legal rights as enshrined by the Charter.

In our current system, many criminal defendants have access to only one advocate in the form of ‘duty counsel .’ Their first and only meeting occurs just moments before a brief bail hearing. In some rare cases, a one-time thirty-minute meeting with a criminal defence attorney may be granted to those involved in criminal cases and who have an annual income of under $17,000.

The Ontario government’s recent cuts have ensured that the already overworked legal aid centres and clinics will have even fewer resources, and those low-income litigants and defendants facing criminal charges appear in court without a qualified advocate.

Break the Prison-Poverty Cycle

Government funding cuts, among other things, reduce people’s chances of getting a fair bail hearing. For example, if the sole income earner of a household is arrested and detained and held for months because a reasonable bail amount wasn’t negotiated, is it fair to assume that they will likely lose their job, which, in turn, handicaps that family’s ability to pay rent or feed the family.

A system that favours the wealthy and privileged ensures that prison recidivism and the ongoing cycle of incarceration persist while social mobility stagnates for entire families across generations. By undermining the legal aid system, we create a working-poor or untouchable class. This denial of access to legal representation should not be permissible in a system where our Charter guarantees the right to retain counsel. I hope the Council votes unanimously in support of this item.