Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you for giving me this opportunity to appear before the committee once again.
I am accompanied today by Ms. Elizabeth Hendy, director general, Programs Branch, and by Ms. Hana Hruska, director of the Legal Aid Directorate.
As requested, I will focus my remarks today on the federal contribution program for legal aid.
I will begin by outlining the components of the federal contribution to provinces and territories, explaining the objectives of each component. I will then speak to federal-provincial-territorial co-operation on legal aid and to current legal aid priorities.
With respect to the components that I just mentioned, the federal legal aid program provides contribution funding to the provinces and territories to support the delivery of criminal legal aid services to economically disadvantaged persons at risk of incarceration and to youth facing prosecution under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.
In the territories, this federal allocation also covers civil legal aid. The program also provides funding for immigration and refugee legal aid services in the provinces that provide these services, and also supports court-ordered counsel in federal prosecutions and legal aid in national security cases.
With respect to criminal legal aid, under Canada's Constitution, responsibility for criminal justice is shared between the federal Parliament, under its authority to enact criminal laws and law related to criminal procedure, and the provincial governments, under their authority for the administration of justice. In the territories, the federal Parliament has constitutional responsibility for both civil and criminal law, including criminal prosecutions.
Given these respective constitutional authorities, both levels of government work together to ensure that Canada has an accessible, efficient, and fair system of justice, and that public confidence in the justice system is maintained. Consequently, the federal government has been cost sharing criminal legal aid since the early 1970s. Federal involvement started with the initiation of legal aid pilot projects by the then Department of Health and Welfare in 1972. By 1975, the program consisted of an annual allocation to the provinces and responsibility had moved to the Department of Justice.
The adoption of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms in 1982 constitutionally entrenched certain rights, including the right to a fair trial, paragraph 11 (d); to life, liberty, and security, section 7; and to equal protection and equal benefit of the law, section 15. The federal contribution to legal aid helps respond to these constitutional rights.
The ongoing federal allocation for adult and youth criminal legal aid services in the provinces and criminal and civil legal aid services in the territories was maintained at $112.4 million annually from 2003 until 2015-16. Budget 2016, however, supplemented this ongoing annual allocation by $88 million over five years, from 2016-17 to 2020-21, and thereafter, $30 million a year in additional ongoing funds starting in 2021-22.
Since 2001, the Legal Aid Program has provided an annual contribution of $11.5 million to six participating provinces, British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, and Newfoundland and Labrador, for the delivery of immigration and refugee legal aid services.
Immigration and refugee legal aid supports the federal Immigration and Refugee Protection Act in ensuring that eligible individuals receive fair and timely process in the determination of their immigration and refugee claims. It assists in addressing the unique circumstances of refugee claimants, such as the need for interpreters or clarification of the overall refugee protection process to individuals.
I also mentioned that we are responsible for court-ordered counsel in federal prosecutions and legal aid in national security cases. The department allocates $1.65 million annually toward orders for court-ordered counsel in federal prosecutions, and $2 million annually toward legal aid in national security cases.
Court-ordered counsel relates to instances where a court orders the Attorney General of Canada to provide counsel for persons accused of serious offences who neither have the resources to pay for a lawyer, nor have been found eligible for criminal legal aid under a provincial or territorial plan. Similarly, funding is provided to support the provision of legal aid in cases of charges under the Anti-terrorism Act, national security cases under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, and Extradition Act proceedings where the requesting state alleges that a terrorist act has been committed.
In addition to the department's ongoing funding to the legal aid services that I have just described, the federal government also contributes to civil legal aid through the Canada social transfer, a block transfer directly to the provinces for education and social services, managed by the Department of Finance.
With respect to collaboration among the provinces and territories, our federal legal aid policy is developed collaboratively with the federal-provincial-territorial permanent working group on legal aid. This committee, which includes government and legal aid plan representatives from each jurisdiction, reports to the committee of federal-provincial-territorial deputy ministers responsible for justice and public safety. The permanent working group, among other things, provides advice on legal aid cost-sharing issues, advises on the potential impact of legislative or policy proposals on legal aid services and their clients, and develops approaches to support the provision of accessible, efficient, and high-quality legal aid.
Currently, the permanent working group is developing and negotiating a new distribution formula for federal legal aid monies. It is considering a series of factors relating to legal aid demand and legal aid services delivery cost in order to determine the most equitable allocation of the funds among the provinces and territories. The committee is also engaged in a discussion on performance measurement and innovation in legal aid.
With respect to the latter—that is, performance measurement and innovation—legal aid is no longer simply about providing access to a lawyer for an indigent accused or a party to a court case. Legal aid now takes many forms, from public legal education initiatives, such as online portals that can provide specialized guidance, to specialized outreach services for under-serviced populations.
The federal Department of Justice has played a significant role in encouraging this evolution. In 2014, the department published the legal aid study, which included a research report on innovations in Canadian and international jurisdictions—Mr. Chairman, I would be willing to provide a copy of that study to you—and the report of the deputy minister advisory panel on criminal legal aid, which assessed the need for innovation and performance measurement in legal aid.
The budget investment in 2016 is also designed to support legal aid innovation, as well as service delivery. All levels of government and the legal aid community are seized with ensuring that innovations have the intended impact. Governments and legal aid plans are starting to systematically gather data on outcomes for legal aid clients and for the justice system as a whole.
For example, British Columbia has a pilot project that provides an accused with consistent access to the same duty counsel lawyer. This has reduced the number of court appearances, from eight to two in some cases. Of course, this saves costs for the taxpayer, and it also reduces court delay.
Legal Aid Ontario found that online applications had reduced average application processing times by 62%. The agency also found that the use of a simplified financial eligibility test allowed it to serve more clients at a lower overall cost. Similarly, Legal Aid Manitoba's decision to provide legal aid coverage for most persons who are below the low income cut-off line resulted in an increase of 895 full-coverage certificates issued. It also resulted in a decrease in the administration costs of maintaining the client payment files.
I could provide you with many more examples. However, the important point is that I invite you to invite representatives of legal aid plans to speak to you directly about the innovations that they are experimenting with in order to improve service and drive down costs.
The budget 2016 investment will support the provinces and territories in contributing to modernization efforts to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the criminal justice system as a whole. It will also support them in addressing gaps in services to vulnerable populations, such as indigenous people and those with mental health issues.
I hope that this provides you with a clear idea of the Department of Justice's role in legal aid.
We would be pleased to take your questions.
Thank you.