A new five-year agreement to maintain Legal Aid services in Alberta has been reached.
The Alberta government, Legal Aid Alberta and Law Society of Alberta announced on Wednesday that he agreement includes a $110-million 2024-25 Legal Aid budget and provisions to continue consultations between the three groups and other justice system partners to guide the future direction and funding of Legal Aid.
"Alberta’s government will continue to work with and consult Legal Aid Alberta, the Law Society of Alberta, and other key members of the justice system to ensure decisions regarding the future direction of legal aid services in the province are data driven and guided by the legal needs of vulnerable Albertans," says a news release announcing the deal that will run until Sept. 5, 2029.
The previous agreement expired on June 30 and in July Legal Aid Alberta warned that unless a new deal was reached it may have to begin shutting down services.
Alberta Justice Minister Mickey Amery responded by extending the existing deal until Sept. 5 to allow negotiations to continue.
“The provision of legal aid services in Alberta is a shared commitment, and one that all the groups involved take very seriously," said Amery in a statement accompanying Wednesday's announcement.
"Our goal is to ensure the sustainability and fiscal accountability of legal aid for all Albertans now and into the future, and this new agreement puts us on the right track.”
Jason Snider, president of the Red Deer Criminal Defence Lawyers Association, said the agreement is good news for lawyers who do legal aid work.
"It's always nice to see when we can come to an agreement to end these things and it doesn't become protracted," said Snider.
That a long-term agreement is also a plus in that it provides certainty for the next few years.
"It's a five-year agreement and it's a commitment to fund legal aid for the service they provide."
Snider said it remains a mystery to many lawyers about why a new legal aid agreement became an issue.
"A lot who work in the system didn't know why this was a crisis in the first place," he said.
"The government never really explained why they took the steps they did. Obviously, they walked back from that and reached an agreement with Legal Aid and I think that's great."
Legal Aid Alberta board chair Ryan Callioux said access to justice is a "fundamental right for all Albertans. Key to this is an independent legal aid system and this agreement specifically codifies these values.
"We continue to respect that the Government of Alberta has a critical role to ensure fiscal responsibility. Strengthening legal aid will include ongoing conversations that involve the parties to this agreement and our funders, stakeholders and partners, with a commitment to supporting the legal needs of Albertans.”
In recent years, funding had become a point of contention with legal aid lawyers and the government.
In the fall of 2022 lawyer associations said a proposed eight per cent increase in legal aid rates fell far short of what was needed.
In December 2022, the government announced a further 25 per cent rate increase and a $40-million legal aid budget boost to the after months of job action by legal aid lawyers.
Most Legal Aid lawyers in Alberta are independent contractors who accept certificates to represent low-income clients from Legal Aid Alberta, which is funded by the federal and provincial governments and the Alberta Law Foundation.
