Thank you.
I'm going to get a response from all three of you. I'll start with you, Ms. Go. This morning I was reading a paper entitled “Canadian Jurisprudence Regarding the Right to Legal Aid”. It went over several Supreme Court cases, and it recognized that there is no overarching constitutional right to legal aid in Canada. However, when you read section 15 of the charter, which clearly states, “Every individual is equal before and under the law and has the right to the equal protection and equal benefit of the law without discrimination”.
You look at the CBA's report and the very stark regional disparities. Even though we've had a Supreme Court ruling on the fact that there's no constitutional right to legal aid, I'm wondering if the spirit of the charter is being met across Canada. Instead of having the government being reactive, is there an opportunity for the government to be proactive in honouring the spirit of section 15?