A number of legal organizations say the Alberta government has failed to sign a new governance agreement for legal aid services in the province.
FILE - A courtroom in Alberta. Several legal organizations accused the Alberta government of cancelling a scheduled signing of an agreement for Legal Aid services before delivering a 'last-minute ultimatum that would fundamentally change who controlled the delivery of legal aid services in Alberta.'.may be forced to stop offering services to new clients because the provincial government has failed to sign a new governance agreement for the service.
In a statement posted to the Legal Aid Alberta website, the non-profit’s board chair Ryan Callioux said the organization wanted to assure stakeholders his organization is “working hard to address your concerns and are mindful of your interests as we seek to remedy this situation.”Callioux said the governance agreement “codified how we operated.”
He said the ministry sent Legal Aid Alberta a letter on June 27 offering a new grant agreement that Callioux described as “a significant departure from the expired governance agreement” and one that he said “erodes the independence of this organization and its ability to deliver services.”In a statement issued to Global News on Wednesday, Alberta Justice confirmed the current governance agreement expired on June 30.
“We are all preparing for when the government’s actions will force Legal Aid Alberta to cease offering services to any new clients in the justice system on July 9,” the legal organizations’ joint statement read. “This will inevitably trigger a complete breakdown of an already overtaxed and under-resourced system.
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