Province withdraws funding for legal aid

The province is playing politics with people’s lives. That’s how refugee advocates and immigration lawyers feel about an abrupt cut to a vital legal support group that they say could spell disaster to vulnerable newcomers.

Somewhere in last week’s budget, the Ford government withdrew $133-million in funding for legal aid, an agency that guides refugees through the often confusing legal system.

Additionally, the province instructed that as of today, legal aid can only use federal funds for immigration and refugee services, which make up about 50% of legal aid’s operating budget. As a result, the group can only prepare refugees for trial, but won’t accompany them in court. A daunting task for anyone let alone a refugee says immigration lawyer Maureen Silcoff

Carlos Vasquez is the Director of the Colombian Refugee Association in Hamilton, and while he’s hopeful the federal government will provide financial relief, he feels that the Ford government is playing politics with people’s lives.

Silcoff says the cuts will create backlogs in court and worse, could send some to gain entry illegally

Something the premier says he’s trying to prevent.

While the local legal aid chose not to speak with us today, Carlos Vasquez says his association is working with the Hamilton legal aid to figure out how they can continue to support refugees until this funding problem is solved.