ALAN FORSETH ... Nearly every story written, about Legal Aid, always shows it in a crisis due to a lack of funding ... WHY?
For many years now, BC's legal aid system appears to be suffering from a shortage of finances, that would allow it to do the job it has tasked with. That litany of financial shortages has been documented for many years, as this brief listing of news stories reports. Attorney-general rejects claims that BC legal-aid is in crisis ( March 8th, 2011 ) Attorney-general Barry Penner has tossed cold water on a call for more government funding for legal aid ... a hard-hitting report found (legal aid) was failing to meet “even the most basic needs” of British Columbians. ... Mr. Doust recommended that the government should restore $47-million to legal aid services in order to bring funds to where they were in 2002 ... the gap between legal aid needs and services has grown into a wide chasm, resulting in human suffering and related social and economic costs borne by our community ... ” Former Attorney-General of the day, ...