Monday, Jan 25, 2010
Globe and Mail/ CBC Metro Morning
Deal struck to end standoff over legal aid in Ontario
The Ontario Government and the province's criminal defence lawyers have reached an agreement to end the lengthy Legal Aid boycott.
Criminal defence lawyers began a boycott last June to in protest the low rates they are paid by Legal Aid. The boycott, which was aimed at murder and guns and gang cases, spread rapidly across the province. According to the Globe and Mail, 700 lawyers were participating in the boycott at the time of the settlement.
The government has agreed to inject $80-million to the Legal Aid budget for services to indigent clients who qualify for legal aid certificates.
“This is the largest, longest funding commitment to this social program the government has ever pledged,” said CLA past president Frank Addario, who spearheaded the boycott. “I am very happy they grasped the importance of legal aid to the delivery of justice in Ontario.”
According to the Globe and Mail, well over a hundred serious trials have been affected by the boycott.
Frank also appeared on CBC Radio's Metro Morning with Andy Barrie. You can listen to the interview here.
Carol Goar reviewed Frank's "lesson in hardball for altruists" here.
