News

TORONTO (January 10, 2018) – The Black Legal Action Centre (BLAC), a new independent legal clinic, has been formed with the mandate of serving the legal needs of Black Ontarians. BLAC is a not for profit corporation under the laws of the Province of Ontario created for the purpose of contributing to the eradication of anti‑Black…

LAO is concerned about the possible impact on refugee claimants flowing from a story that appeared on The National and other news outlets on November 8th and 9th about Nigerian LGBTQ claimants. In mid-October, Legal Aid Ontario was contacted by CBC news to confirm facts with regard to an investigation that the CBC was doing…

Legal Aid Ontario (LAO) has released its report for Q2 2017/18. Among its highlights: An update and overview of the services that LAO will provide for Ontario’s Black communities as it works to set up a new, independent community-based organization to deliver legal services. An overview of LAO’s action plan for domestic abuse clients. This…

Legal Aid Ontario congratulates George MacPherson, Director General, Eastern Region on his appointment to the Ontario Superior Court of Justice. Federal Minister of Justice and Attorney General Jody Wilson-Raybould made the announcement on October 20. George began his career with LAO as staff counsel at the Ottawa Family Law Office. After serving as counsel the Children’s…

As part of the dispute resolution process between the African Canadian Legal Clinic (ACLC) and Legal Aid Ontario (LAO), ACLC requested reconsideration of the August 16, 2017 decision made by the Clinic Committee of LAO’s Board of Directors to withdraw LAO’s funding of ACLC. The Clinic Committee heard arguments on this issue from ACLC and LAO…

Legal Aid Ontario (LAO) will be holding a number of in-person and online meetings between October and December to meet with people from racialized communities as well as the lawyers, community legal clinics, and other community agencies that serve them to talk about the issues faced when it comes to getting the legal services needed….

Legal Aid Ontario has revamped its quarterly report to keep all of its justice partners in the loop about some of its major initiatives and to also provide a snapshot look at its service levels and financial health. The first quarter report, which covers the months of April to June 2017, has an overview of…

It’s time to send in your nominations for the Sidney B. Linden Award! The deadline for submission is Friday, November 3, 2017, at 5 p.m. The award is named after Justice Sidney B. Linden, the first chair of Legal Aid Ontario (LAO), who has been involved with legal aid for over 35 years. LAO created the Sidney…

In 2009/10, LAO received numerous complaints from staff and board members within ACLC alleging financial mismanagement, gross misconduct and poor governance at the clinic. Two of ACLC’s Board members resigned because of their concerns. LAO had a responsibility to look into these allegations and tried to resolve these concerns informally through a series of meetings, but the management and board of ACLC refused.

I would like to invite you to a community meeting that Legal Aid Ontario is holding to get input on legal services to the Black community. We want to hear your views in order to begin the important work of setting up a new, independent, Black‑focused and Black-led clinic. We also want to tell you…