Alberta bill requiring minister's approval has cut $10M in grants for non-profits, law foundation says

The Alberta Law Foundation says the provincial government is breaking precedent and meddling with which community-based legal groups receive grants from its fund.  

The non-profit, which has operated independently of government for 52 years, says the province wants the minister of justice to approve all grants, gifts and funding commitments over $250,000. The measures are proposed in Bill 39,  Financial Statutes Amendment Act, introduced last month. 

Law foundation executive director Byron Chan said the government has already reduced or cut nearly $10 million in funding to 14 Alberta non-profits that were already approved by the foundation's board of directors.

Chan told a news conference with the Alberta NDP Thursday that the cuts are hurting community and student legal clinics, Indigenous justice programs, survivors of violence and newcomers to Canada. 

He said the organizations who submitted grant requests that were cut or reduced by the province were looking for increases to keep up with demand and the cost of living.

"Thousands and thousands of Albertans are going to be left with either longer wait times without access to services at all or without an organization that's within their geographic region to be able to access services," Chan said. 

The government is also cutting the funding it provides Legal Aid from 50 per cent to 25 per cent, leaving the Alberta Law Foundation having to make up the difference. 

Chan said the foundation funds more than 65 programs and services for people who make too much to qualify for legal aid but who still can't afford a lawyer. He said the cuts will mean many people will be forced to deal with legal issues without representation. 

Accountability and oversight

In Thursday's question period, Justice Minster Mickey Amery said the finances of the Alberta Law Foundation are "very, very healthy."

"The organizations are receiving funding from the Alberta Law Foundation will continue to receive that, but there will be transparency, there will be accountability, and there will be oversight," Amery said. 

Amery said the Alberta Law Foundation held $281 million in reserves as of March 31.

Chan said the foundation would no longer be able to help develop the new $100 million Indigenous law institute at the University of Alberta. The project will no longer proceed. 

Two government-appointed members of the law foundation's board have resigned in protest over the government's involvement, Chan said. 

Worries about lack of legal help

Amery said the Central Alberta Community Legal Clinic received a 40 per cent increase in funding over the past two years. 

Executive director Kathy Parsons said the clinic is now facing a $500,000 cut in each of the next three years. 

She told Thursday's news conference that her staff helps people who are dealing with domestic violence, family breakdowns, eviction and other serious issues. She said people are waiting weeks  to talk to a lawyer. 

"If you're a woman facing domestic violence, looking for child support so you can feed your kids or maybe even threatened with losing your housing, you don't have six to eight weeks to find out what you can do about it," Parsons said. 

Drew Lafond, president of the Indigenous Bar Association, said he is concerned the cuts will hurt Indigenous people and in particular, Indigenous women. 

"What we're seeing now from the provincial government and the introduction of Bill 39 is distrust in the ability of independent organizations and Indigenous peoples themselves to chart their own destiny," he said. 

"And that's something that's deeply concerning because it squarely challenges all of the recommendations in over 20 national reports that have been released in the last 30 years."

Parsons said the need for these services grows as the economy gets worse. She said the money, which comes from interest from client funds held in lawyers' pooled trust accounts, is not government revenue. 

"This is the worst time to be pulling funding away from the community legal services Albertans rely on every day to access justice," Parsons said. 

Parsons said there are five community legal clinics in Alberta. She said the changes would affect tens of thousands of Albertans.

Bill 39 is in the second reading stage of debate at the legislature.