The provincial and federal governments are accused of violating the Charter of Rights and Freedoms for underfunding legal aid in Manitoba, according to a Court of King’s Bench lawsuit filed Thursday.
Legal Aid Manitoba offers free or affordable legal services for low-income residents. The organization gets funding from the provincial and federal governments, the Manitoba Law Foundation and client fees.
“It’s led to a number of really terrible outcomes for people in the criminal justice system. Wrongful convictions, pressured guilty pleas, people not getting out on bail in a timely manner,” said Shakir Rahim, CCLA criminal justice program director.
It alleges both levels of government have violated Section 7, the right to life, liberty and security of a person; Section 11, the right to a fair trial and Section 15, the right to equal protection and benefit under the law.
The “chronic” underfunding impacts accused people who are unable to get legal aid, stating funding is frequently inadequate, and impacts Indigenous people who are disproportionately represented in the system, it alleges.
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“When you underfund the defence side of the system, that means there is an imbalance of resources and capabilities … Everybody else is well-funded in that courtroom except for the person who is supposed to protect your interest,” said Rahim, who is co-counsel on the case.
Trials take more time than pleas, so lawyers are incentivized to take a higher volume of clients and plead them out instead of defending cases through trials for a lower volume of clients, the filing alleges.
As more dollars go to police and Crowns, Legal Aid Manitoba funding has been flatlined for years.
The estimates of expenditure documents for Legal Aid Manitoba and the Manitoba Prosecutions Service’s funding from the provincial government from 2019 – 2026.
Michael Collins / Global News
The province’s budget for Legal Aid Manitoba has been at $36.6 million since 2023, according to provincial budget documents from 2023 to 2026. The Manitoba Prosecution Service is at $54 million in 2026, according to the budget.
There were 19,348 criminal legal aid applications, but 18 per cent was refused, with 40 per cent refused for financial eligibility, in 2023 and 2024 according to the filing.
Peter Kingsley, executive director of Legal Aid Manitoba, said he only learned about the suit through media reports, in a phone interview Friday.
Kingsley said he has yet to see the filings of evidence.
Justice Minister Matt Wiebe said they’re committed to a strong justice system, but did not respond to specific questions about the funding or the case, in an emailed statement.
The evidence and filings are not yet available.
The application will be reviewed in court in September.
