EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR'S REPORT
Tell me a story …
We are drawn to personal stories. They humanize events and spur our thinking on policy decisions.
Stories make us step back and ask, “Is this right?”.
Let me tell you my story about Legal Aid. It begins with a quote appropriated from the Ivany Report –
“IT IS ABOUT US, our COURAGE,
DETERMINATION to do BETTER”.1
our
IMAGINATION
and
our
Three years ago Nova Scotia Legal Aid took stock.
This is what we saw: Nova Scotians who faced criminal or family law issues and were the poorest Nova
Scotians did their best to make their way to our office
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Between 8:30 - 4:30
Monday - Friday
Remember your appointment … it’s in 6 weeks
Don’t be late
Have your proof of income or you may not get past the window.
These were the things that happened:
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Courtney has two children and wants to separate. She worries about the screaming and when the next
punch will land. She waits 6 weeks for her appointment with a lawyer. How can she get a custody order?
Will that protect her and the children? Does she have to move out of the co-op apartment? She has so
many questions. She doesn’t get any answers. She works at Home Depot and makes $12 an hour. Too
much income for legal aid. She goes back home.
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Morgan is 15 and is in a fight at school. Morgan has to go to court and is expelled from Grade 10.
Morgan gets a lawyer for the criminal charge. Morgan gets no help about the school board decision. He
wonders: Doesn’t it matter that the other person threatened me first? Can’t I go back? My mom is so
stressed. Morgan misses 3 months of school…the first day back is tomorrow and that seems…well,
impossible.
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Jamie is a Mi’kmaq father. His son Ben is 5. Ben has been taken by Community Services. He doesn’t
know where the social worker has taken Ben. Community Services will only tell him that Ben is with an
“approved” foster family, somewhere in the valley, 3 hours away. Jamie has to go to the first court date
1 Ivany Report, An Urgent Call to Action for Nova Scotians
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by himself and everyone in court seems to know what is going on… except him. Jamie is scared. He has
many questions: Does the foster family know Ben likes a goodnight kiss behind both ears? Why can’t Ben
be with my mother, his grandmother? Jamie gets a lawyer 2 weeks after the first court date. The lawyer
knows about the law, but not about Mi’kmaq culture. Jamie thinks… this isn’t going to turn out right…
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Alvin slips at the loading dock. Now his disc “bulges” according to the doctor and he is unable to drive
for more than 15 minutes. Not good for a truck driver. His application for CPP Disability is denied. He is
48 years old and has been a truck driver since he was 17. His back has been a problem for the last few
years but he managed until now. The worry is constant: no money, 3 kids and a mortgage. Alvin needs
help with appealing the CPP Disability decision. He takes this case to Legal Aid. Legal Aid said they
couldn’t help. Alvin didn’t appeal the CPP decision. Things spiraled down- the marriage and the house
gone and a criminal charge of uttering threats. Alvin’s focus is now family court, criminal court and
looking for a room he can afford on income assistance. He will be going back to legal aid; not for a fair
shot at a pension appeal but for cases in family and criminal courts.
SO what happened over the last 3 years at Legal Aid to make these stories turn out better? Well,
remember I said NS Legal Aid took stock.
We decided we didn’t like saying “no”.
Courts, crown attorneys, private lawyers, transition houses and parent resource centres didn’t like us
saying “no”.
And Nova Scotians who looked for help didn’t like us saying “no”.
So, we started to say “YES”.
We came up with a plan.
Key Changes
1. Move from a “yes” or “no” organization to “some level of help is available to all Nova Scotians”
in criminal, family and now also social justice.
2. Moving from “you come to see us” to “connecting better with communities” we are here to
help.”
3. Moving from “lawyers and secretaries” to a “client centered team approach”.
We gave our plan a name:
“Here to Help”
The plan was the focus of my 2014 ED report. The focus of this 2015 Report is a report card: “How
Are We Doing?”
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The 2014 Report is included at the back of this report. I encourage you to be interactive and make your own
assessment.
How Have We Done So Far?
Strategic Priority 1: Some Level of Help is available to all Nova Scotians in our Core Service
Areas.
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Full service (a lawyer for your case) ↑8% over previous year;
Summary services (one-on-one summary advice or duty counsel) ↑28% over previous year.
Note # of Lawyers ↑ 4% (this includes opening a Sydney Conflict Office as we struggled to find Sydney Private Bar
lawyers to take child welfare cases).
Some level of help
is available to all
Nova Scotians in our 3 core areas of family law, criminal law and social justice.
Social Justice is help with issues that affect income and housing security. Increased stability in
these areas decreases intersection with criminal and family justice systems. An ounce of
prevention.
713 social justice files opened
Youth Social Justice
includes help with
education issues.
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INFORMATION:
Uploaded 43 documents last year (www.nslegalaid.ca). Some titles:
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Can I Get EI If I Quit My Job?
Can I Get Income Assistance if I am a Youth?
What Tenants Need to Know About the Law
You’ve Been Criminally Charged: Now What?
Links to LISNS and others such as Courts of Nova Scotia and www.nsfamilylaw.ca
CFSA parent information video (Child Protection Video).
We worked with members of the Judiciary, Department of Justice, Commmunity Services and Mi’kmaq First Nations to
produce a parent information video for families facing child protection cases. We got funding from the Law Foundation of
Ontario to do this. Here is a picture of Legal Aid Lawyer Sam Moreau being filmed on a sunny Sunday
The video is on our website.
We worked with the NS Barristers Society and Department of Justice to produce content for
www.nsfamilylaw.ca .
We worked with the judiciary and the justice department to develop a workbook for self-represented
family litigants. This will be available soon.
We developed information brochures for Mi’kmaq who need Legal Aid.
Knowledge is power. We understand the need to do a better job explaining ‘the system’.
SUMMARY ADVICE AND DUTY COUNSEL:
Our summary services increased 28% last year.
Summary advice is one on one specific advice from a lawyer. This is for people who don’t qualify for full service legal aid and are unable
to afford a private lawyer. The 28% increase relates to services provided by lawyers.
More of our support staff are providing legal information and help with document preparation and we hope to track this in the next year.
With the growth in self-represented litigants, and the increased awareness about access to justice issues, NSLA intentionally worked on
delivering more advice and limited retainer services.
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No financial eligibility barriers;
Summary Advice is delivered:
• In our offices
• In community
• In courthouse
Enhanced Duty Counsel is provided in Criminal Courts:
We increased our Non-custodial Duty Counsel Services by 15% and maintained our Cells Duty Counsel service level.
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This is a positive for Nova Scotians and for the justice system. Effective and efficient. I invite you to read our Duty
Counsel Report. (Appendix 1)
Chief Judge Pamela S. Williams:
“The Enhanced Duty Counsel Program is an invaluable service to the justice system, including the public, the Public
Prosecution Service and the judiciary. NSLA Duty Counsel, time and again, provide timely and effective legal advice
to persons who otherwise would have to navigate the ‘unknown and sometimes turbulent waters’ of the criminal
justice system, alone and confused. EDC both compliments and enhances access to justice; it performs a vital role in
assisting the marginalized, the vulnerable and the needy who often appear before us. On behalf of the judges of our
courts I would like to extend our gratitude to NSLA for expanding this service. “
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Summary Advice Counsel is provided in Family Courts:
This service helps people who do not qualify for legal aid full service and cannot afford a private lawyer. We provided
30% more help with this service last year compared to the prior year. Have a look at our Summary Advice Counsel
Report.
Pamela Marche, Director, Court Services
Department of Justice:
“Nova Scotia Department of Justice Court Services greatly appreciates Nova Scotia Legal Aid’s enthusiasm in
increasing access to justice, and for its dedication to providing valuable services like the Summary Advice
Counsel.”
FULL SERVICE (aka a lawyer for your case):
We increased full service by 8% last year.
Our Regulations tell us that discretion is integral in assessing financial eligibility. Too often however, the two decade old table of guideline
income was used as a ceiling. Too many people over the old guideline table we found ineligible.
We listened to our staff and to Nova Scotians. We took action and retrained on assessing financial eligibility. This is aimed at reducing the
increase in self-represented litigants; the gap between those eligible for Legal Aid and those who are unable to afford a private lawyer.
More staff lawyers also took on more major criminal cases. We have the expertise.
Staff lawyer Christa Thompson was counsel on R. v. X [2014] N.J.S. No. 609
X shot his 15 year old cousin when he was 16. Both youth were African Nova
Scotian. The court considered expert evidence on race and culture when
determining an adult sentence application. This is the first case that sets a clear
example of how expert evidence on race and culture is essential to provide the
court with the proper lens. X was sentenced as a youth.
Legal Aid’s expertise is recognized within the profession. Legal Aid Lawyers are called upon to provide legal education to other lawyers
& to the judiciary; to write legal articles; to work with community organizations; to play key roles in organizations such as the NS
Barristers Society, the Criminal Lawyers Association, the CBA Family Law Section and the Schulich School of Law. It is with
considerable pride that I invite you to have a look at the “Presentations and Publications” section.
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Jill Perry, Managing Lawyer NSLA Sydney & 2015 President, NS Barristers’ Society
The Private Bar are an invaluable part of Legal Aid. The private bar participates in the delivery of Legal Aid by taking legal aid cases on
certificate, by serving on the commission (our ‘board’), by participating in specific projects.
One project focused on developing a private bar mentoring program for lawyers interested in taking Legal Aid cases. Senior lawyers
including Joel Pink Q.C., Julia Cornish Q.C., Doug Shatford Q.C. and Phil Star Q.C. partnered with us. This will be rolled out in 2015 and
was highlighted in the Society Record fall 2014.
Strategic Priority 2 : Connecting Better
Saying “YES” was a change from saying “you come to us” to “connecting better with the
communities we are here to serve”.
Connecting Better:
• More community consultations – 6 with Mi’kmaq communities; 4 with African-Nova Scotian
communities; legal partnership with Immigrant Services Association of Nova Scotia;
• Smarter use of IT: e-mail to text client reminders, video conferencing, on line applications;
• Regional community outreach – each office tasked with connecting better.
Some examples:
 Yarmouth walk-in clinics;
 Truro after-hours clinics;
 Annapolis → Bear River First Nations;
 HRM:
• 3 Preston communities
• Mi’kmaq Friendship Centre
• Phoenix House
• Bayers Westwood Parents Resource Centre
• Spryfield @ Chebucto Connections
P. Adams Photography
Connecting better also means celebrating the volunteer work we do within the communities in which
we work and live.
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Managing Lawyer, Rickcola B.
works with Dartmouth Girls
Club (P. Adams Photography)
Financial Services Officer ,
Carlita H., volunteers time to
prepare income tax for low
income Nova Scotians
NSLA staff work jointly with
private lawyer Mark Knox,
QC in evening support
groups with ex- offenders
Connecting better means stronger collaboration. Here are a couple examples only:
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Began work with the Access to Justice Coordinating Committee chaired by the Chief Justice and the Minister of Justice. This
committee will consider ways to address access to justice gaps: NSLA’s first new role: we committed to providing advice to
self-represented litigants in family law appeals and this will roll out very soon.
Worked with justice and health stakeholders to implement and refine wellness approaches in criminal courts. This is aimed at
addressing the root causes of criminal justice intersection.
Society Record:
“The Mental Health Court in Dartmouth provided a model for some aspects of
the Kentville pilot. The pilots came about through an unprecedented
partnership between the Provincial Courts, the Public Prosecution Service,
Nova Scotia Legal Aid, Community Corrections and Mental Health and
Addiction Services.” –
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Worked with Corrections, Court Services, Judiciary, and PPS to better incorporate IT (think video conferencing and electronic
disclosure) in our criminal justice systems.
Strategic Priority 3: Client Centered
A client first mentality:
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Lawyers and support staff with
increased diversity and cultural
competencies;
Support staff working in triage with
lawyers.
Client first means non-lawyers can play a key role (think Nurse Practitioners):
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Added a court support worker to Dartmouth Provincial Court;
Added a Family Support Worker in the Dartmouth Family office;
Our first Aboriginal Social Worker joined us in January 2015. Ms. Lee’s focus is to work with aboriginal parents facing child
welfare issues and lawyers;
Support Staff in Amherst piloted a navigational approach at Arraignment Court to facilitate quicker hookup to Legal Aid for
youth and adults. Aimed at decreasing adjournments.
Client first is a commitment to increasing our responsiveness.
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15% of our lawyers are racialized/visible minority;
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Professional development meetings include Aboriginal competencies. We were honoured to have Chief Prosper , Joe B.
Marshall, Union of NS Indians, and Dr. Jane McMillan present at our AGM.
Cathy Benton, Managing Lawyer,
Bridgewater Office & staff lead on the
Aboriginal Justice Initiative, accepting the
award (2015)
NSLA received the CBA Excellence In Equity & Diversity Award
Staff Lawyers & Community Leaders at the IB&M Reception (2015)
(Law School Indigenous, Black and Mi’kmaq Initiative)
HERE WE ARE
We navigate the access to justice road with values of excellence, responsiveness and accountability as
our guiding principles.
More access to more justice for more Nova Scotians. It comes at a cost. The Province has provided
sustainable funding and on behalf of Nova Scotians who need legal aid and stakeholders, I thank the
Province.2
The GPS, however, warns of future challenges:
1. Financial reinvestment will be required in two years as NSLA expends what reserves it has.
2
The Federal Government has provided the same amount of specific dollars toward the delivery of criminal Legal Aid.
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2. Staff complement will have to be increased. Present staff levels are at capacity. Staff have
stepped up to the plate and have answered the call to “do more with less” but as the number of
those we service increases, so must those who provide the service.
THE END
SO the story is positive.
conclusion.
. The information contained in this report will, I hope, lead you to the same
The story is not perfect and the future is not without challenges. I will end the story where I started. The
way forward will take
COURAGE
IMAGINATION
DETERMINATION TO DO BETTER
I believe we have these qualities.
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Karen Hudson, QC
Executive Director
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