Thank you very much.
Mr. Chair, honourable members of the committee, hello.
Access to justice goes beyond legal aid. While legal aid is important to ensure access to justice, its availability is restricted by income and the field of law in question. Access to justice in both official languages goes beyond access to legal aid. In this regard, we are submitting two recommendations today.
Here is our first recommendation:
The House of Commons Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights recommend that the federal government make sustainable investments in legal projects aimed at helping Canadians understand their rights in the official language of their choice.
This first recommendation stems from the following issue: the question of access to justice is not an issue for multinational corporations. It is an issue for middle class citizens who become involved in day-to-day legal issues. Here are a few examples: employment, divorce, child custody, housing, and social assistance. Often, people dealing with such legal issues do not have the financial means or access to information in the official language of their choice to obtain the legal services they need. They make too much money to qualify for legal aid, but not enough money to afford a lawyer. In this regard, the AJEFO believes the federal government can further equal access to justice in both official languages by supporting innovative projects that complement the existing traditional legal aid model.
The AJEFO has spearheaded two such projects: first, the Ottawa Legal Information Centre, the first of its kind in Ontario; and second, CliquezJustice.ca, an easy to understand legal information portal. I will give you a concrete example of the services offered through these projects. Take Beatrice, for example. Beatrice is a single mother of three. She works as a cashier in a local store. Beatrice is suddenly fired without reasonable cause. Her home is at risk and this situation will affect her custody of her children. Beatrice needs access to justice, in the language of her choice, but she makes $25,000 per year and therefore does not qualify for legal aid services.
Our organization, the AJEFO, has developed an approach to help Beatrice find the information needed to facilitate her access to justice: Beatrice visits the Ottawa Legal Information Centre, where she is welcomed in both official languages and where she can speak French. She has a free meeting with a lawyer, who refers her to CliquezJustice.ca to help her understand her rights in terms of employment, housing, and child custody. Without providing legal advice, the lawyer gives Beatrice the legal information she needs to take the appropriate actions to resolve her issues. Thereafter, Beatrice can navigate CliquezJustice.ca to further her research. That was our first recommendation.
Here is our second recommendation:
The House of Commons Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights recommend that the federal government invest in the creation of legal tools for legal professionals to help them offer services in the official language of their client's choosing, specifically in official language minority communities.
We believe every Canadian faced with a legal issue should have access to a legal professional, such as a lawyer, who has the necessary tools—precedents, for instance—to offer legal services in the client's preferred official language. This second recommendation stems from the following issue: most legal tools are only available in English in common law jurisdictions.
I'd like to share an anecdote that we hear far too often from our members: New parents Emile and Mathieu meet with their lawyer, Mr. Leblanc, to draft their will. They live in a common law jurisdiction. Mr. Leblanc receives instructions from Emile and Mathieu in French. However, Mr. Leblanc only has access to an English template of a will. Emile and Mathieu can either choose to receive an English will or pay to have the template translated. We would argue that imposing extra costs on them does not provide equal access to justice in both official languages.
The AJEFO has a solution to this. In 2013, we launched a Canada-wide portal called Jurisource.ca. We provide free legal tools such as precedents, lexicons, checklists, forms, and professional development training. These tools are just as beneficial to members of the public as they are to professionals working in the legal field. They reduce research time for legal professionals as well as the costs incurred by the client. Let's take the scenario involving Mr. Leblanc: with a French precedent, available on Jurisource.ca, Mr. Leblanc can draft Emile and Mathieu's will in French.
In closing, I highlight that access to justice remains a real issue for all Canadians. However, francophones living in linguistic minority communities face the added challenge of obtaining equal access to justice in French. Statistics demonstrate that marginalized and middle class Canadians often do not have adequate access to justice. This challenge is exacerbated when clients must choose between proceeding in French, increasing delays and consequent additional costs, or proceeding in English.
I hope to have provided a clearer picture of alternate solutions to improve access to justice, beyond the traditional view of legal aid.
Please feel free to visit our offices in Ottawa at 85 Albert Street, suite 1400. I would gladly answer any questions you may have.
Thank you very much.