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SHANNoN K.C. PRTTHTPAUt-
CTLA PRESIDENT
l2'l 0-142 STREET
EDMONTON, ATBERTA,
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IE780.488.4460
t^x,780.488.4783
tNFO@GUNNTAWGROUP.CA
Legislature Office
403 Legislature Building
10800 97 Avenue
Edmonton, AB T5K2B6
Fax: (780) 422-6621
September 22,2014
Attention: .Iim Prentice
To the Honourable Jim Prentice,
The Criminal Trial Lawyers' Association and the Criminal Defence Lawyers Association are deeply troubled by
comments made by Justice Minister Jonathan Denis who was commenting on a rally and bake sale that took place
at the Legislature over the weekend. A group of mothers called Mothers In Support of Fair Trials was protesting
the lack of funding for Legal Aid.
The Justice Minister said on television,
If the Federal Government isn't willing to increase its funding, that is something that we will look at for the
next year's budget. And if we are going to give Legal Aid additional funds I want it to go towards
increasing eligibility requirement and not more money for criminal defence lawyers.
First, the Minister of Justice, who is also the Solicitor General, does not appear to be focussing, as you had directed
in your letter on ensuring adequate funding for Legal Aid. The Society has said that it will be insolvent and
possibly forced to close its doors next summer if funds are not received immediately. Waiting until the next budget
gives no assurance that timely assistance is forthcoming.
Second, the Minister is still pointing fingers at the federal govemment. However, administration of
justice
in
Alberta is the province's responsibility. When the Minister is speaking to the public it is his duty to help educate
the public. The message he is sending, that the federal government is shirking its responsibilities does not properly
reflect the crux of the problem.
Legal Aid is supposed to be independent of the Minister's office. Why is the Minister dictating how Legal Aid
should allocate funds should the govemment ever decide to give them any more?
The fact that the Minister of Justice is also the Solicitor General creates a clear potential for conflict and an
appearance of bias. That appearance of bias becomes actual bias when Minister Denis shows a lack of impartiality
by suggesting to the public that his main concem is that criminal defence lawyers not receive any increase in
tarif.
I have not heard the Minster and Solicitor General state that before allocating any money to the prosecution that he
wants an assurance that none will go to increasing prosecutors' salaries. Minster Denis is trying to further the
image of "greedy defence lawyers" which brings the administration ofjustice into disrepute.
At the moment, lawyers who take on Legal Aid cases are paid 20Yo less, adjusted for inflation, than they made 20
years ago. These are the members of the bar who do more pro bono work than any other sector of the legal
community. The criminal defence bar is an integral part of Legal Aid. To take active steps to ensure that lawyers
are kept working at rates that are unreasonable is not how one "fixes" Legal Aid. As the Supreme Court of Canada
stated in .l?. v. Cunningham 2010 SCC 10: "In general, access to
justice
should not fall solely on the shoulders of
the criminal defence bar and, in particular, legal aid lawyers."
The disrespect with which the Minister speaks of the criminal defence bar, his misrepresentation to the Benchers of
the Law Society and his continued refusal to answer any of the letters that we have sent demonstrate that he is unht
for the position that he currently occupies in government.
The CTLA and CDLA are calling for Jonathan Denis' resignation.
Yours truly,
<
Shannon Prithipaul
of the CTLA
Ian Savage
President of the CDLA
