This is the justice system. There are no winners or losers. How can you measure the fact that a lawyer wins a case or loses a case in terms of whether the client had proper legal services? The person may have been rightfully guilty, but the lawyer ensured that they were guilty of what they were convicted of and not of what they were originally charged. They could have been charged with murder and in fact the jury comes back with a verdict of manslaughter, and maybe that's exactly what they....
Is that a win or is that a loss? It's a loss for the police because the police said it was first-degree murder. The jury came back saying manslaughter. That's the justice. You can't say that. Winning and losing is not language of the justice system. Legal aid is there to ensure people have a fair trial, and the outcome is part of the fair trial process. Convictions do not make the system more just. Acquittal does not mean the system is more just, and we don't fund legal aid on the basis that by funding legal aid you'll have more acquittals or you'll have more convictions. We're there to ensure that the trial is fair.
The outcome of the trial is for the jury or the judge to decide. We just want to make sure Canadians get a fair trial. That's their constitutional right. They don't have a constitutional right to an outcome. They have a constitutional right to a fair trial.