CALL US TODAY Funding for Community Legal Clinics Cut!
The provincial government has slashed funding to Legal Aid Ontario! The budget presented on April 11, 2019 cut the province’s contribution to Legal Aid Ontario by 35%, retroactive to April 1st. Legal Aid Ontario has announced that it will therefore cut the budget for community legal clinics by $15 Million – a 16% reduction.
Please write to your MPP: if a Conservative, ask the MPP to tell the Premier and the Attorney General to reverse this cut; if from another party, ask your MPP to raise this issue in the legislature. Go to https://stoplegalaidcuts.nationbuilder.com/ for details.
This funding cut is a devastating blow to persons with low income at a point in their lives when they most desperately need help: at the time that they are facing eviction, loss of job, loss of disability benefits or other serious legal problems. We assist vulnerable people with the basic essentials of life: keeping a roof over their head and some money to put food on the table. Without legal clinics, low income Ontarians will lack access to justice. Access to legal assistance is what makes justice possible.
The government, and Premier Doug Ford personally, made a commitment that no cuts would be made to front line services. It is impossible to have a cut of this magnitude without affecting front line services.