People with not much money who need legal advice in town soon will no longer have the Legal Services Society available to them.

The B.C. Government and Service Employees’ Union announced in a news release Nov. 3 that government budget cuts are instrumental in the closing of five regional Legal Services Society offices in 2010.

The closures will affect regional offices in Kelowna, Kamloops, Prince George, Victoria and Surrey along with the Justice Access Centre in Nanaimo. The regional office in Terrace will remain open.

The union said government funding cuts have already forced the Society to cut back 38 staff positions in the Lower Mainland in January of this year. The release added that the cuts have come while demand for the Society’s services increased.

BCGEU president Darryl Walker said the closures mean rural communities are losing a valuable resource, with the lack of access to knowledgeable staff to help ordinary people navigate the legal system.

“These cuts will further reduce the ability of low-income people to access the legal system, and will create a greater inequity between the richest and poorest citizens,” said Walker.

The release noted the Legal Services Society plans to lay off up to 54 employees and cut civil law projects that include the LawLine and the Community Advocate Support Line.

BCGEU spokesperson Chris Bradshaw said the government is looking at replacing the offices with what it calls contract agents—local lawyers contracted by the government to provide legal aid services.

He added that he believes there is a possibility the provincial telephone switchboard service for contacting a legal professional will be expanded.

Bradshaw described the service as a central 800 number that people could call to be put in touch with contract lawyers.

Bradshaw noted the new strategy leads to the government paying the fees of professional lawyers to perform administrative work that was previously done by paralegals.

While the offices are being closed, Bradshaw noted that the funding for legal aid in the province is still around. He pointed out that in 1992, the government initiated a seven per cent legal services tax.

“Funds from that were earmarked to support the Legal Services Society and legal aid for low-income citizens.”

Bradshaw said the total revenue of the tax has been estimated at close to $100 million per year, while the most the government has spent on legal aid in a year since 2007 is $67.8 million.

“We have roughly a third of the funds generated, specifically supposed to be earmarked for legal services, disappearing into general revenue.”

He added that at the same time, the government is closing legal aid offices, cutting funding and services. The cuts affect four positions in Kelowna and six in Kamloops, a mixture of staff lawyers, paralegals and administrative support staff.

The closing of offices, says Bradshaw, comes at a time when the demand for legal aid is increasing.

He pointed out that single mothers and women are particularly impacted in the area of domestic and family law.

Bradshaw said legal assistance is not available for them to fight custody battles, or to go to court for the enforcement of child support orders.

“The only service they provide to women right now, is if they can prove they or their kids are in danger of being harmed.”

Even with that impetus, Bradshaw noted that those in need are limited to eight hours of legal work on their behalf, and that only to provide a restraining order.

He added that the situation is solvable if the government lives up to its commitment and uses the funds that have been generated and earmarked for legal services to fund those services.

msimmons@kelowancapnews.com