'We're looking at a disaster': Human rights advocate calls for overhaul to Legal Aid Alberta

Social justice and human rights advocate Mark Cherrington speaks with Alberta Primetime Host Michael Higgins about the provincial government’s funding agreement with Legal Aid Alberta

Michael Higgins: What's your take on the developments the past few days involving Legal Aid Alberta?

Mark Cherrington: Surprising, but not surprising. Surprising in the sense of the speed and how jarring things are evolving. Obviously this is something that I think should have been, talking about transparency, more involved with in the public eye a few months ago, that they were maybe having difficulty talking with one and each other, that they weren't coming to a position. And we're left with sort of a crisis issue that we have right now and I don't think that that serves vulnerable Albertans well in any regards.

Michael Higgins: Is it warranted being in this position though? The minister talking about changing the dynamics.

Mark Cherrington: I think something has to change and without being privy to any information regarding those discussions and just based on my opinion and my observations I think that Legal Aid has to change what it is and how it delivers legal services. That might involve getting rid of the entity Legal Aid itself but that would certainly involve a lot of consultations with the Law Society, the Criminal Trial Lawyers’ Association, and all stakeholders developing a best practice model because the people that lose are vulnerable Albertans. We're not talking about an inconvenience that our streets aren't being plowed or our streetlights are going out. We're talking about someone's liberty and freedoms. And I deal with lots of people in jail who didn't do anything and are there falsely. So it's critical that we have an independent strong defense counsel that has the ability to work without these sorts of stressors on its back.

Michael Higgins: To hear you say that Legal Aid Alberta needs to change, that take may come as a bit of a surprise to some. You were with Legal Aid Alberta for a lot of years.

Mark Cherrington: I was with Legal Aid and just to be straight on five years ago I was let go for structural changes and I think because of my work in social justice. Again that was five years ago and I've been a big supporter of the frontline staff and the lawyers involved with Legal Aid but when I look at Legal Aid I see a bloated executive, I see bureaucracies and risk averse and going in empire building in areas that just some right confused me. We need a hybrid system that involves choice of counsel but as well as strong public defenders to work in our boutique courts, like mental health court, Indigenous court, as duty counsel, in family court, doing emergency protection orders. So we need both, we need both systems, but we need to develop a cohesive glue to put these systems together. Legal Aid, I remind you, 40 years ago was basically a platform to connect vulnerable Albertans to lawyers but that has evolved into this big huge.

Michael Higgins: So does it mean blowing up the system and building something new? How dynamic a changer is needed?

Mark Cherrington: This is my personal opinion, I think that there needs to be significant changes in the way we deliver legal services, either through Legal Aid, or through a different entity. That's my personal opinion.

Michael Higgins: What do you say to Albertans who maybe fear what comes of the independence of the legal aid system, what comes of maybe the degree of control that either government or the minister has over the dynamic?

Mark Cherrington: And those are excellent questions and I think that we need to hold our government to the fire about that there needs to be independence of defence counsel. You can't have the crown arresting you, prosecuting you and defending you. That's unacceptable. Defence counsel is that leg on the table that keeps everything level. It needs to have firewalled, they need to act without fear of reprisal or retribution that if you're standing up and fighting for an indigenous man and the government is messing with them, you need to say the government is messing with this person. And they have to say that without fear of retribution that their employer, being the crown, is going to come down on them. So I think that again, I hope and I asked that Legal Aid take this money on the table and continue its services and I asked the minister and Legal Aid to invite stakeholders including the Law Society, the Criminal Trial Lawyers’ Association, some of our Indigenous knowledge keepers and leaders and people to come around this table and develop a best practice system to serve Albertans. And if you have those minds around the table working without agendas and working collaboratively, we can do no wrong.

Michael Higgins: Can that be done though on a deadline? There is talk that the system potentially craters early next week.

Mark Cherrington: No, it can't be. Of course it can't be. And this is where this crisis situation needs to be resolved and we need to continue from the perspective of a vulnerable Albertan in jail wrongly. He needs the idea to know that he's going to get competent counsel and that someone's going to be there on Wednesday morning fighting for his liberty and his freedoms so he can go back to work or he can get on with his life.

Michael Higgins: Are you confident that will happen?

Mark Cherrington: No. I think that we're looking at a disaster. If this government and Legal Aid don't come together and develop an interim plan immediately.