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TEACHER CONTRACTS LSUC DECLARATION P4 Proposal targets real estate fraud Follow LAW TIMES on www.twitter.com/lawtimes $4.00 • Vol. 24, No. 5 Wynne should tackle broken system FOCUS ON P7 International/ Cross-Border Law L aw TIMes P9 CO V E R I N G O N TA R I O ' S L E G A L S C E N E • W W W. L AW T I M E S N E W S . CO M ntitled-4 1 Toronto legal clinic in jeopardy February 4, 2013 12-03-20 10:44 A But LAO reviewing funding cut over governance concerns BY MARG. BRuINEMAN A For Law Times legal clinic offering services to 1,500 homeless people is in jeopardy due to looming funding cuts. The financial threat arises after Legal Aid Ontario announced it would stop funding the clinic due to governance and other concerns. While the legal services available through West Toronto Community Legal Services are on the line, the housing help services funded by the City of Toronto are also at risk. "If our funding is cut, the city's housing help services will no longer have a home," says clinic lawyer Barbara Warner. "The city funding does not cover rent, for example. The housing help services will be interrupted. The housing help services include workers connecting clients with suitable housing, assisting clients with looking for units, setting up direct payment arrangements for their rent, and more." The clinic runs the housing help program through funding from the city that covers salaries, payroll taxes, and office supplies for staff. It includes a case manager for people with complex needs. The city also contributes towards supervision of those workers and the program itself. Through funding of about $600,000 from Legal Aid Ontario, the legal side of the service helps up to 1,000 clients a year. LAO is the clinic's only source of funding for legal services. But the money is set to run out March 31. Four lawyers at the clinic provide immigration, income support, housing, human rights, and employment services. Two part-time intake workers provide referrals and information about the process and offer practical advice, Yodit Wendim, Helle Hulgaard, and Barbara Warner, bottom from left, and Ricardo Dentone are among the staff worried about the fate of West Toronto Community Legal Services. Photo: Breanne Nicholson including on how to apply for a legal aid certificate. In addition, a community legal worker supports all areas of practice. LAO, which had earlier announced it wouldn't reinstate funding for the clinic, has now re-entered negotiations with it. Warner says the reasons for withdrawing funding from the clinic involve historic board and personnel problems that it has now resolved. A new board began work last June to address "every concern at the clinic." Warner says a new interim management structure is now in place and productivity has See NDP, page 5 DOJ review of aboriginal law section criticized the value of the contract at between $100,000 and $250,000. Christian Girouard, spokesman for the federal Justice Department, said the study is being carried out in accordance with Treasury Board policies that require periodic evaluations of various programs or sections. He said it's not part of a larger examination of aboriginal law within the department. The government has awarded a contract for $145,575 to R.A. Malatest & Associates Ltd., a firm that conducts program evaluations but doesn't specialize in legal issues, to do the work. In the documents accompanying the request for proposals, the department says this is the first formal evaluation of the aboriginal affairs portfolio. The evaluation will study the portfolio's performance over the last five years and serve as a baseline for future evaluations. Aboriginal affairs is one of six portfolios PM #40762529 than other areas of the Justice Department in the government's bid to cut jobs and reOTTAWA — As aboriginal duce spending. issues take centre stage in "It seems to be where we Canada, the federal Justice are seeing the most change in Department's aboriginal afthe shortest amount of time," fairs section is about to go says Lisa Blais, president of the under the microscope as part Association of Justice Counsel. of an evaluation of the way it Blais says the union is also handles aboriginal law. concerned about a section of But while the Justice Dethe evaluation that could set partment insists it's just a routhe stage for outsourcing abtine evaluation, the president Lisa Blais worries outsourcing could original law work to private of the union representing Jus- be on the agenda as the Justice sector law firms. tice Department lawyers and Department evaluates its aboriginal The questions centre on a NDP justice critic Françoise affairs section. request for proposals issued Boivin worry the government by the Justice Department late could be setting the stage for big changes. last year calling for a firm to carry out an evaluFuelling their concern is the fact that the ation of its aboriginal justice portfolio. In its reaboriginal affairs section has taken a bigger hit quest for proposals, the department estimated BY ELIzABETH THOMPSON For Law Times See Union, page 5 A DAILY BLOG OF CANADIAN LEGAL NEWS [ WWW.CANADIANLAWYERMAG.COM/LEGALFEEDS ] LegalFeeds-BB-LT-Apr23-12.indd 1 POWERED BY CANADIAN LAWYER & LAW TIMES 12-11-23 9:59 AM

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