La nécessité de penser en dehors des sentiers battus lorsqu’il est question de santé mentale

Par Sheela Subramanian
(Traduit de l’anglais par Sophie Raymond)

On pense souvent qu’il est facile de repérer les personnes ayant un handicap, de même que les accommodements et les mesures d’accessibilité pour ces personnes. Par exemple, lorsqu’une personne pense aux personnes handicapées et à l’accessibilité, elle imagine bien souvent des salles de bain, des ascenseurs et des places de stationnement facile d’accès.

La réalité, bien sûr, est que plusieurs types de handicap, notamment les troubles de santé mentale, ne sont pas facilement repérables. Il en est de même pour les accommodements et les mesures d’accessibilité efficaces. En fait, on doit penser en dehors des sentiers battuslorsqu’il est question d’accessibilité en matière de santé mentale. Il ne s’agit pas de construire des rampes d’accès ou des portes élargies, mais plutôt de penser en termes d’innovation et d’inclusion.

Le projet Think Outside the Box: Mental Health Accessibility Project de l’Association canadienne pour la santé mentale (ACSM) (division de l’Ontario) est une initiative qui favorise l’innovation en ce qui concerne l’accessibilité en matière de santé mentale. Pour ce faire, nous regroupons et échangeons des modèles de réussite en lien avec l’accessibilité et l’accommodement dans le domaine de la santé mentale. Résultat : une ressource sur le Web qui présente des renseignements et des pratiques novatrices au sujet de l’accessibilité et de l’accommodement en matière de santé mentale.

Des personnes nous ont dit que les politiques organisationnelles en faveur des animaux offrant un soutien moral et du personnel de soutien ont un effet positif dans leur vie de tous les jours. Des fournisseurs de services nous ont dit que l’établissement de partenariats avec des organismes de santé mentale les aidait à trouver des solutions créatives pour surmonter certains obstacles liés à l’accessibilité dans le domaine de la santé mentale.

Comme vous le savez, la Loi de 2005 sur l’accessibilité pour les personnes handicapées de l’Ontario et le Code des droits de la personne de l’Ontarioexigent que les organismes des secteurs public et privé de l’Ontario améliorent l’accessibilité pour les personnes handicapées, y compris celles ayant des problèmes de santé mentale, et qu’ils leur offrent des accommodements. L’ACSM Ontario reçoit régulièrement des demandes de conseils de la part d’intervenants du secteur public à propos de l’accessibilité en matière de santé mentale. Ces demandes reflètent souvent une interprétation erronée ou de la fausse information concernant la nature de différents troubles de santé mentale et la définition d’accessibilité dans ce contexte. Nous espérons que ce projet fournira aux intervenants des outils qui leur permettront d’élaborer eux-mêmes des solutions en matière d’accessibilité.

L’expertise de l’ACSM Ontario en matière d’accessibilité et d’accommodement dans le domaine de la santé mentale a été mise à profit dans le cadre des activités et des projets suivants :

• La santé mentale au travail, un programme en matière de santé mentale en milieu de travail
• Le projet Enabling Minds qui améliore l’accessibilité en matière de santé mentale dans le secteur des loisirs
• Think Outside the Box, une ressource Web sur l’accessibilité en matière de santé mentale et les droits de la personne
• Des activités continues liées au soutien en milieu de travail et au logement avec services de soutien
• Une analyse de la promotion des droits et de la politique publique en lien avec le Programme ontarien de soutien aux personnes handicapées (POSPH)
• Une nomination au Comité consultatif d’Élections Ontario sur l’accessibilité
• Une participation à l’élaboration de la Loi de 2005 sur l’accessibilité pour les personnes handicapées de l’Ontario et de ses normes

De plus, l’ACSM Ontario reçoit des demandes d’organismes gouvernementaux et non gouvernementaux qui concernent le respect de la Loi de 2005 sur l’accessibilité pour les personnes handicapées de l’Ontario et de ses normes. En général, ces organismes cherchent des renseignements et des ressources sur les façons d’améliorer l’accessibilité des programmes, des politiques et des pratiques pour les personnes ayant des problèmes de santé mentale. L’ACSM Ontario a reçu des demandes de la part de la Commission ontarienne des droits de la personne; de l’Office des transports du Canada; du Bureau des obligations familiales du ministère des Services sociaux et communautaires; de Presto, une division de Metrolinx; et d’Élections Ontario. À l’échelle locale, les éducateurs publics de l’ACSM reçoivent aussi des demandes similaires.

Comment pouvez-vous aider? Dites-nous ce que vous ou votre organisme faites pour favoriser l’accessibilité et l’accommodement pour les personnes ayant des troubles de santé mentale. Recourez-vous à des pratiques formelles ou informelles dont vous désirez parler? Voici quelques exemples de pratiques efficaces :

• Porter son attention sur la personne plutôt que sur le handicap ou le diagnostic;
• Demander aux clients quels sont leurs besoins en matière d’accommodement;
• Verser des honoraires aux personnes ayant des problèmes en santé mentale afin de reconnaître et de souligner leur contribution;
• Accepter tous les animaux d’assistance au sein de l’organisme, y compris les animaux offrant un soutien moral;
• Élaborer des politiques de retour au travail efficaces et adaptées aux besoins des employés.

Pour transmettre votre histoire, communiquez avec Sheela Subramanian à ssubramanian@ontario.cmha.ca. Ce projet reçoit des avis de la Direction générale de l’accessibilité pour l’Ontario, du ARCH Disability Law Centre, de l’ACSM Champlain Est, de l’ACSM Sudbury/Manitoulin, de l’ACSM York et Simcoe Sud, de la santé mentale au travail et de la Commission ontarienne des droits de la personne.

Sheela Subramanian est analyste des politiques à l’ACSM Ontario.

Le présent article a été  initialement publié sur la page sur la Stratégie en matière de santé mentale.

National Aboriginal Languages Day

“Without the language, we are warm bodies without a spirit…” Mary Lou Fox, Ojibwe elder

Language is a vital tool for Aboriginal people as it plays and important role in the transmission of values, spiritual and traditional beliefs, and the entire histories of a people from generation to generation.

At one point there were over 300 Aboriginal languages spoken in what is now North America. Today there are only about 60 Aboriginal languages spoken across Canada.

Did you know?

Canada and Ontario owe their names to Aboriginal words ‘kanata’ and ‘Oniatari’:io’ from the Huron word for ‘village’ and the Mohawk word for ‘beautiful lake’.

Top ten spoken Aboriginal Languages in Canada:

• Cree
• Ojibway
• Oji-Cree
• Innu/ Montagnis
• Mi’kmaq
• Atikamekw
• Inuktitut
• Dene
• Stoney
• Blackfoot

Celebrate the diversity and preservation of Aboriginal languages across Kanata!

Related content:

• Legal Ontario Aboriginal Justice Strategy
• Brantford’s new Aboriginal court: a community effort that meets a local challenge
• Reflections on the 2013 NAN-Wide Aboriginal Justice Summit
• Why we need to improve legal aid services to Ontario’s Aboriginal clients

Time is of the essence when dealing with domestic violence

By Karine Rogers, coordinator of the START program

A woman in crisis because of abuse and violence usually needs many types of help from multiple services, and may have no idea what services are available.

Trying to figure out how to get support from many potential services can be confusing, overwhelming and time consuming. A critically important piece of a woman’s safety planning involves being able to access information and resources quickly and seamlessly. When she comes to Support Team for Abuse Response Today (START) at YWCA Peterborough Haliburton, she can learn about all the help available and get help from several sources immediately.

START is a domestic abuse service hub, where many services come together under one roof to provide collaborative service to the people who need it. We have found it makes a real difference to a woman seeking help that she can come to a safe place that is a “one stop shop.”

Here she can talk with one staff person to learn about the breadth of service options and gain assistance in determining her service needs and priorities. We can then immediately introduce her to other service providers she would like to access. START includes representatives from across many sectors, including justice, healthcare, violence against women, child welfare, and community and social services. Our staff works together to ensure seamless services for women seeking our resources.

Because time is often of the essence, seamless and well-coordinated service is a critical piece of safety planning. This is especially important given how rapidly high-risk situations can escalate. Additionally, women may need to make big decisions immediately, and on-the-spot legal advice can be critical to making decisions about how to best protect their and their children’s safety. At START, women can call Legal Aid Ontario and receive immediate telephone summary legal advice regarding their situation. This is available to women regardless of their income level or immigration status.

Our dearest wish is that no woman would ever need our services. But as long as there are women who do, we will continue to work collaboratively to provide the highest quality service possible.

Below are some links to similar initiatives:

Durham: http://durhamdriven.com/

Peel: http://www.cfspd.com/services.html

Waterloo: http://fvpwaterloo.ca/en/

York: http://yrccs.ca/

Family Justice Centre Alliance (US) http://www.familyjusticecenter.com/

Karine Rogers is Coordinator of the START program. START is open every Monday (except statutory holidays) from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the YWCA, 216 Simcoe St, Peterborough. For more information: 705.743.3526; www.ywcapeterborough.org/START

Law students help fill growing gaps in legal services

by Nikki Gershbain

The access to justice crisis

There has been much discussion in the profession recently about what the Chief Justice of Canada has referred to as a crisis in the justice system.

This crisis is shorthand for a number of systemic problems, including long delays, overly complex procedures, an erosion in legal aid funding, and skyrocketing legal fees.

Despite a shared belief that justice is a fundamental right of our democracy, the growing reality is that only the rich can afford the full benefits of the legal system.

For poor and low-income Canadians, the situation is particularly dire.

Increasingly, many people find themselves trying to solve their legal problems on their own, despite being ill-equipped to put their best foot forward in a system designed for professionals.

Others simply give up entirely on seeking justice through the judicial system.

The gaps in family law

In recent years, a series of civil legal needs studies have concluded that family law is the area of greatest need in Canada.

In Ontario, 60 per cent to 70 per cent—by some accounts even a staggering 80 per cent—of family litigants appear unrepresented.

The breakdown of a relationship, particularly where children are involved, can be one of the most stressful experiences of a person’s life.  That experience is made far more challenging without representation.

The role of law students

My organization, Pro Bono Students Canada (PBSC), draws on the skills of trained and supervised law students to help fill some of the gaps in the system and support individuals in need.

Every year, about 1,600 PBSC students from 21 law schools and 8 provinces provide over 130,000 hours free legal services to low-income Canadians, and the organizations that serve them.

PBSC students are trained to fill out court forms and draft other legal documents, deliver legal education workshops, write legal memos – all under the careful supervision of licensed lawyers.

Law students are increasingly looking for meaningful, structured opportunities outside of the classroom. Each year, PBSC keeps a wait list of about 700 students hoping for a placement.

Student pro bono has the added benefit of creating a generation of lawyers committed to public service.  We tell our volunteers that pro bono is an obligation of every member of the profession.  In turn, more than 80 per cent report they plan to make it part of their practice on graduation.

PBSC’s Partnership with Legal Aid Ontario

Each year, PBSC recruits about 160 law students across Canada to participate in our Family Law Project (FLP). Under the supervision of duty counsel and advice counsel, the students help clients fill out their court forms, and make their way through the system with dignity and support.

In Ontario, PBSC operates the FLP in partnership with Legal Aid Ontario.  Together, we train about 80 to 100 students per year to assist low-income, self-represented litigants who are ineligible for legal aid, but cannot afford a lawyer.

The FLP currently runs 10 months of the year at 8 courts – Jarvis, Sheppard, University, Newmarket (as of May, 2014), Brampton, Windsor, London and Kingston.

The project has received two awards and many accolades for the role it plays in assisting clients, creating better outcomes for families, and providing people with a positive experience of the justice system at an extremely difficult time of their lives.

Justice Harvey Brownstone has said that the North York court would “literally” implode without the PBSC volunteers.  Clients regularly report they would be lost without the students.

The project also provides a pipeline into this under-serviced area of the profession.  At several law schools, the FLP is the only program offering practical exposure to family law.

Law students and access to justice

At PBSC, we believe the time is now to look to Canada’s law students to help meet the growing gaps in legal services.

Fortunately, law students are on the profession’s radar screen.  Several recent reports have set out prescriptions for our ailing system that include leveraging the talents and skills of students:

• The Cromwell Report, “Access to Civil & Family Justice: A Roadmap for Change“, calls on the profession to expand its reliance on trained and supervised law students.

• The Canadian Bar Association’s “Reaching Equal Justice: An Invitation to Envision and Act,” acknowledges the “great strides” PBSC has made in increasing access to justice, and calls on law schools to provide more of these opportunities for students.

• The Law Commission of Ontario’s “Increasing Access to Family Justice Through Comprehensive Entry Points and Inclusivity,” recommends the expansion of student services, including PBSC’s Family Law Project.

Student pro bono is not a panacea to the access to justice crisis. Pro bono in general cannot, and should not, replace government legal aid programs.

It is, however, a critical if partial response to unmet legal needs. Law student pro bono helps more Canadians access the system, and trains law students to be better and more community-minded lawyers.

Law student pro bono is an idea whose time has come.

Nikki Gershbain is the National Director of Pro Bono Students Canada. 

On being duty counsel in drug treatment court

By Annie Schachar

I stand up in a room packed with spectators, and I pause to choose my words carefully before I address the audience.

Although I’m not making a long speech, I’m conscientious that my words may have a profound impact on someone’s life. I am acting as an LAO duty counsel lawyer in Toronto’s drug treatment court (DTC). At this moment, I am representing one of my clients at a DTC graduation ceremony at Toronto’s Old City Hall courthouse.

Just before I sit down, the audience responds with applause.  A few minutes later, the room erupts into a melee of hearty handshakes and hugs in support of the graduate.

History of drug treatment courts

Drug treatment courts (DTCs) are a unique form of criminal justice. They provide alternatives to prison for non-violent drug addicts facing criminal charges related to their addiction. The goal of a DTC is to rehabilitate addict offenders and prevent recidivism by integrating addiction therapy into the court process.

Before clients are admitted to the program they are subject to an intensive screening process. They are then required to enter a guilty plea and undergo intensive clinical treatment provided by CAMH. Upon successful completion of the program (which typically takes about a year or more), participants normally receive non-custodial sentences and leave with renewed hope for a drug-free life.

The first DTC was created in Miami in 1989 in response to overloaded court dockets and the over-representation of drug addicts in the criminal justice system. Twenty-five years later, there are more than 2500 drug courts in operation worldwide, but only one in Toronto.

Duty Counsel in DTC

Since 2007, I have acted as one of several specially-trained duty counsel lawyers in DTC at Old City Hall. There are usually between 45 and 60 clients in Toronto’s DTC, and almost all of them are represented by LAO duty counsel.

Because of the time commitment required to effectively represent clients in DTC (twice-weekly court appearances and “pre-court” meetings), it is unusual for clients to retain private counsel. This means that duty counsel is highly-involved in all of the operations of DTC.

From a defence counsel perspective, the most distinct difference between working in a DTC courtroom and a “regular” courtroom is that DTC employs a collaborative approach to justice as opposed to an adversarial one. This means that as a lawyer I have to adjust my advocacy strategies from the ones I would use in, for example, bail court. This is a unique challenge for duty counsel, since our primary responsibility is of course to represent our clients.

Finding comfortable ground between conveying our clients’ desires to the court and still upholding the courtroom’s collaborative approach towards rehabilitation can be delicate, but it provides a refreshing hiatus from the adversarial atmosphere in other courtrooms. Representing clients in DTC has been among the most challenging, yet rewarding work of my career.

Specialized client service

Another challenge of acting as duty counsel in DTC is managing relationships with the clients themselves. People who are struggling with substance abuse issues are often battling a host of other issues such as homelessness, mental illnesses and a history of trauma. Providing appropriate service to this community requires understanding and sensitivity.

From working closely with the addiction therapists from CAMH, I have learned that clients experiencing changes in temperaments is often a part of the recovery process. My time in DTC has allowed me to develop skills in working with people that I can apply to all my other work as duty counsel.

One of the most rewarding parts of my job is when I develop close relationships with clients. Because DTC clients are required to attend court twice a week, duty counsel gets to know and understand our clients on a much deeper level than in other courts where the clients are more transient.

This means that I share in both the failures and the triumphs of my DTC clients. There, I am much more than just a criminal defence lawyer – I am a member of a team whose collective goal is to encourage, inspire and support people grappling with addiction on their personal journey toward recovery.

Back at the graduation ceremony, I am waiting in line with the judge, the CAMH therapists, family members and all the other participants to shake hands with our newest graduate.

I reach out my hand, but my client pulls me in for a big bear hug, telling me: “I couldn’t have done it without you, Annie.”

Annie Schachar is a duty counsel lawyer with LAO. She has worked in Toronto’s Drug Treatment Court.

Diversity and inclusion: an important piece of the “access to justice” puzzle

By Noëlle Richardson

In my view, access to justice is only possible if we in the justice system provide relevant, responsive services to society’s most vulnerable people.

Inclusion can help employees in the justice system to understand the needs of clients from across all of Ontario’s communities. Moreover, it can help staff to develop the necessary cultural competencies to effectively serve these clients.

Such a perspective can go a long way toward helping organizations to recognize all of the ways in which we all differ. It would also help them to solicit everyone’s perspective in the interest of providing better services to those who need them, and develop a culture in which everyone feels they have a place at the organizational table that matters.

A broader definition of the term diversity that includes everyone is not only fundamental to this approach, it is crucial to ensuring an approach that is not underpinned by an air of benevolence.

Changes in our society have led to changes in how we look at diversity

Canadian society has evolved at an accelerated rate since the 60s, when changes to this country’s immigration policy in resulted in a noticeable shift in Canada’s visual demographic.

In recognition of the challenges that come with demographic plurality, some federal and provincial laws and policies have aimed, over the years, to ensure full participation by all. These range from the multicultural policy which Canada adopted in 1971 and enacted into law in 1988, to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms in 1982, to the Federal Employment Equity Act of 1996, to the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act of 2005 – to name a few.

All have the intent of full participation for each and every individual, regardless of place of origin, colour, creed, or race, etc. Combined, they have created greater access to Canada from parts of the world previously denied such access.

Representing society within our organizations

Within this continually changing environment, we must find ways to stay abreast of the needs of society. One of the best ways to do so is to have society represented within our organizations. The benefits to organizations that make this choice are many. An organization with inclusive practices:

• positions itself as a desirable place to work
• attracts and can select employees from a broad cross section of the population
• can access a broader perspective when determining policies and practices that meet the needs of a plural province
• is more likely to meet organizational goals and societal expectations of efficient and relevant services and programs to best meet the needs of 13 million multifaceted Ontarians who depend on these services and programs.

Challenges in acquiring the necessary skills to recognize diversity

Unlike any other area of learning, acquiring the necessary skills to ensure a broad understanding of peoples’ realities and perspectives seems to pose a great challenge.

In many other areas of business, we seem to have no problem seeking to obtain knowledge and skills if they are requisites within a specific arena. However, this doesn’t seem to be the case for acquiring knowledge and skills associated with more fully understanding and appreciating the otherness of the other.

Having wondered over the years why this is the case, the only plausible reason seems to be that to many people, admitting to deficits in understanding those unlike ourselves is to admit to a gap in character, not knowledge.

Viewing inclusive practice as necessary bona fides when delivering services to the public might help us to move beyond this particular barrier of political correctness. I have no doubt that incorporating cultural sensibilities as required bona fides into the work of lawyering can help the justice system to enhance access to justice across the province.

Noëlle Richardson is Chief Diversity Officer, Agencies, Ministry of the Attorney General.

Fire in the hole: Why every lawyer needs to care about access to justice

By Dr. Julie MacFarlane

This piece originally appeared on Dr Julie MacFarlane’s blog on Dec.8, 2013

In the last 12 weeks I have made many presentations about the results of the National Self-Represented Litigants (SRL) Study to audiences of lawyers and justice system professionals, as well as to other public (“non-lawyer”) audiences. In some instances, I have spoken alongside SRLs from our SRL Speakers Bank who have shared their stories and reflections first-hand with the audience.

Parallel universes

As the weeks go by, I am developing the creeping sense that I am living in two parallel universes. When I speak to public audiences, there is a ready acknowledgement of “everything you just said” – as I am often told. There is personal heartbreak but also genuine concern for the future of our justice system, and the promise of access to justice. “Do lawyers realize how bad/ urgent/ broken this is?” I am constantly asked.

I always say, “Yes, many lawyers do realize this” – but in truth, there are also some in our profession who apparently do not. Far more times than I care to count, lawyers have told me their response to a disappointed public (whom they appear to believe consist of a few SRLs who are sore because they lost their cases) is: “The public should be assured that the legal system has worked well for 150 years, and we must trust it to continue to take care of us all.”

Down the rabbit hole

It is probably unsurprising then, that when participating in gatherings of legal professionals I often feel isolated. Sometimes I feel like Alice emerging from the rabbit hole into Wonderland, where so many things appear initially familiar but on closer inspection, are a little…..well…..a little off.

In the legal conferences I have attended this Fall there is an upbeat and often self-congratulatory tone, despite the chaos and dysfunction that is threatening to engulf our courts and justice system. The focus is often on small matters of internal reorganization rather than on the larger picture. Some of my colleagues seem unconcerned about what is happening at the other end of the rabbit hole. In our court registries, in hearing rooms and courtrooms, in duty counsel’s office or in the courthouse legal information services, there is a flood of people desperate for help –anxious, confused, distressed, emotional, and sometimes angry. Ask anyone working at any of these locations.

It makes me want to stand up in the middle of the room and shout “Fire!”

The elephant in the room

I really do understand why many lawyers do not want to hear someone talking about SRLs as anything other than the make-work irritation they experience them to be. As soon as I begin to speak about SRLs at legal conferences, the tension is palpable – on faces, in body language, in the air. “Oh, there she goes again…”

But this reaction confirms to me the importance of naming the scale of the problem that we are facing – and to find ways to talk about it without defensiveness, antagonism or defeatism. We are smart people, we are deeply committed to our work, and we can and must figure out how to respond to this crisis – in multiple small ways since there is no magical single fix here – but first, we have to care about the question of access to justice.

So – I make two suggestions below for why even those lawyers who are financially secure in their practices, and/or and are relatively unaffected by SRLs because they serve corporate clients, and/or feel somewhat removed from the challenges that SRLs bring – should nonetheless care deeply about what is happening in our justice system.

The bargain of self-regulation

There is a profound disconnect between ordinary Canadians and the legal profession. This was true when I wrote The New Lawyer five years ago (see the opening story of chapter one) – but it is even more true today, with the huge rise in SRLs.

We have to care about this fact, however well populated with paying clients our present practices are. We are a self-regulated profession, and our bargain with the public is that we are committed to regulation “in the public interest.” Neither this mandate, nor our fundamental legitimacy as a profession, are sustainable if lawyers can only serve a small fraction of Canadians – and most of those represented by corporations.

Debates over relaxing regulation – to allow para-legals to handle more matters, to permit the selling of legal services in different financial models, to encourage multi-disciplinary partnerships – have consistently been met with efforts to control, defend, protect. The control strategy is not working – the disconnect just keeps getting bigger. This genie is not going back in the bottle.

Passing the torch

There is a new generation of lawyers coming up behind us. The traditional models of adversarial advocacy, all-or-nothing representation and the billable hour that have proved profitable – albeit to a diminishing extent – for this generation of lawyers are not acceptable to sophisticated millennial consumers.

The signs are clear. Corporate clients are increasingly exploring outsourcing. They have already moved much of their legal work in-house where they can exert more client control over strategy and costs. All but the very wealthiest of personal clients have told the Bar that they cannot afford their services. Personal and corporate clients are increasingly skeptical about a traditional professional relationship wherein they are simply told what to do, rather than considered partners in decision-making, where often they feel unlistened to and disregarded.

Aspiring lawyers are well aware of public skepticism towards the profession and the increasing difficulty many experience in making an income. Law school admissions are down 50% in some US law schools, and a similar trend is now noticeable in Canadian schools. New calls Bar to the are beginning to explore ways in which that they can develop practices to serve the disenfranchised who cannot afford legal services in the traditional model. These courageous innovators need your support and mentorship.

If the next generation of lawyers is to have clients, this generation of lawyers has to care about the legacy it leaves to them. We have to re-earn public confidence, and that begins with caring about access to justice. Many lawyers already do. As a result they are ready to work with their regulators, their judiciary and courts, and yes, even SRLs (aka the public) to address the justice crisis.

Join us

Back in Wonderland, the evacuation sirens are going off.

Please, if you are still on the wrong side of the rabbit hole – join your colleagues in re-imagining the value that lawyers can bring to clients, re-establishing the credibility of the legal profession among ordinary Canadians, and re-commiting to both the ideals and the reality of access to justice.

Dr. Julie Macfarlane is Professor at the Faculty of Law of the University of Windsor as well as Professor of Practice at the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame.
Her blog features regular discussion on the serious contemplation of system change, reflecting the findings of the National Self-Represented Litigants Research Study.

Andrew Pilliar: what will you do about access to justice this year?

By Andrew Pilliar

We don’t have an access to justice crisis in Canada.*

The Oxford English Dictionary offers this definition for “crisis”: “A vitally important or decisive stage in the progress of anything; a turning-point… “

Don’t get me wrong.  I am not saying that access to justice problems don’t daily plague the lives of thousands of people across the country.  For many of these people, access to justice is a personal crisis.

But from the perspective of the legal profession, access to justice plainly is not a crisis.  It is a problem that has been with us for a long time.  How else to explain the veritable avalanche of reports on access to justice over the decades?  How else to explain the fact that Chief Justice McLachlin has been calling on the bar to improve access to justice throughout her near decade-and-a-half as Chief Justice?  Given this, it seems more apt to think of the problem of access to justice as a chronic problem rather than a crisis.

Why does this matter?  Because how we characterize a problem affects how we respond to that problem.

The case for access to justice has been made

2013 saw the publication of two significant reports on access to justice in Canada: the CBA’s Reaching Equal Justice report, and the report of the National Action Committee on Access to Justice in Civil and Family Matters.

Both of these reports have highlighted the scope of access problems across Canada.  And both of these reports have outlined concrete steps to improve access to justice.  But change, if it happens at all, will not happen overnight.  The CBA report calls for changes to be made across the profession and across society by 2030.

The CBA report’s recommendations are expressly built on the UN’s Millennium Development Goals, and these long-range targets for change serve the purpose of fixing goals to aim for.  The goals are laudable, but there is danger that too many of us will defer acting to another day.  There is danger that too many legal professionals will regard access to justice as someone else’s issue.

Improving access to justice is not something that will be taken care of by delegating work to a committee.  Improving access to justice is incumbent on all of us as legal professionals.

Despite the numbers – research shows that almost 45% of Canadians have experienced a legal problem over the past three years, but fewer than 10% of those sought legal assistance – it can be easy to imagine that access to justice problems are not pressing, or aren’t as important as the actual crises that fill the news every day.

I think back to my practice experiences, and of the individuals who I talked to who were visibly struggling with legal problems but had no way to afford legal assistance.  I was able to help some of them on a pro bono basis.  But there were many more people who did not receive much-needed legal assistance.  Many similar stories are found in the full CBA report.

Another excellent source of inspiration is the recent Self-Represented Litigants Project by Professor Julie Macfarlane at the University of Windsor Faculty of Law.  The stories of individuals who experience access to justice problems help to make concrete what “access to justice” means.  For these individuals and thousands like them, access to justice is a crisis.

How you can contribute to improving access to justice

How can you take steps to improve access to justice?  Here are a few ideas:

• Read the reports to understand the state of access to justice problems in Canada today, and to better understand what access to justice looks like for individuals.
• Increase the amount of pro bono work you do, and ensure that your pro bono work is directed at improving access to justice for those who are most in need.
• Recruit a colleague to increase the amount of pro bono work they do to improve access to justice.
• If you are in a position of influence in your practice, encourage your firm to do more to support access to justice and pro bono activities.
• Commit to taking on “low bono” cases where appropriate, by charging reduced rates to potential clients who cannot afford full-fee services.
• Partner with social services or access to justice agencies in your community to better understand how you can reach individuals with access problems.
• If you are involved politically, speak out to make improving access to justice part of your party’s platform – whether provincially or federally.  If you aren’t politically active, consider becoming active in the name of access to justice.

Do you have other tangible suggestions?  Leave them in the comments section below, particularly if you’ve tried something and found it successful.

As has often been said, there is no silver bullet in addressing access to justice problems.  But responding to a chronic problem requires each of us to take steps to improve the situation.

You may have made – and perhaps already broken – your New Year’s resolutions for 2014.  But I encourage you to add to your list.  This year, commit to doing something to measurably improve access to justice for someone in your community.  It may not be much, but make sure it’s something.

* Thanks to Efrat Arbel for inspiring this blog post with her talk on the nature of crises at the Canadian Law and Society Conference 2013.

Andrew Pilliar is a PhD student at the University of British Columbia Faculty of Law.  Prior to graduate school, he practiced litigation at a national firm and at a small boutique, both in Vancouver.  He was an Action Canada Fellow in 2012/2013.  Watch his recent TEDx Talk, “Why You Should Care about Access to Justice”.

Ryan Peck: HIV/AIDS and the need for specialized services

By Ryan Peck

Being diagnosed HIV-positive is overwhelming.  Combined with the poverty, stigma and discrimination that it can bring, it can be downright devastating.

No other disease carries such significant legal, social, cultural and familial consequences.  People living with HIV/AIDS are often isolated from friends, family and society.  They can be denied health care, employment, and services. Disclosing  HIV status can be traumatizing, even when done voluntarily.

In recent years, HIV has been transformed into a chronic manageable illness, at least for those with access to effective treatment. Also, the science surrounding transmission risks has improved greatly.

And yet, a 2012 study still found that:

• 16% of Canadians “feel afraid” of people living with HIV/AIDS.
• 18% would be somewhat or very uncomfortable working in an office with someone living with the illness.
• 23% would be uncomfortable shopping at a small neighborhood grocery store owned by someone living with HIV/AIDS.
• 35% would be somewhat or very uncomfortable if their child was attending a school where one of the students was known to be living with HIV/AIDS.
• 54% would be somewhat or very uncomfortable with a close friend or family member dating someone with HIV/AIDS.

Many people living with HIV/AIDS were, and still are, reluctant to approach mainstream service providers. Safer places to access community services are still necessary; places where HIV status can be disclosed without fear and where the complex reality of living with HIV/AIDS is understood.  To this end, community organizations known as AIDS Service Organizations (ASOs) have been established in many communities across Ontario to provide HIV/AIDS related information and services.

Enter HALCO

The HIV & AIDS Legal Clinic Ontario (HALCO) has been providing free legal services to people living with HIV/AIDS across Ontario since 1995.

HALCO was established to provide a safer place with the legal expertise neccesary to assist clients living with HIV/AIDS.  Having access to these safer and specialized places continues to be vital to the physical, emotional and mental health of people living with HIV/AIDS, and to the overall HIV/AIDS response.

The legal needs of the HIV/AIDS community are varied; ranging from traditional poverty law matters to privacy, wills/estates and immigration matters. Tenancy and social assistance issues comprise almost 30% of HALCO’s intake, and immigration 16%.

Due to pervasive stigma and discrimination, members of the HIV/AIDS community also frequently seek human rights and privacy law advice. The clinic provides clients with legal information about HIV/AIDS non-disclosure criminal law matters, and assists private bar counsel in handling these matters. HALCO’s clients also have health and private insurance law issues, in addition to employment, criminal injuries compensation, prison, civil litigation and consumer/debt law needs.

Since 1995, the demand for HALCO’s services has continued to grow. The clinic provides free legal advice and brief services to anyone living with HIV/AIDS in Ontario. In addition, HALCO provides legal representation to people who meet its financial eligibility criteria or whose legal issue justifies making an exception.

HALCO is also actively engaged in law reform, public legal education and community development initiatives. The clinic handles approximately 4000 legal issues per year, and, since January 2012, has intervened in five Supreme Court of Canada matters.

What’s next?

HALCO looks forward to the day that our services are no longer needed; the day when people living with HIV/AIDS in Ontario no longer face stigma and discrimination; the day that HIV/AIDS infection is considered a serious illness like any other. Until that day arrives, HALCO will continue to work steadfastly to ensure that people living with HIV/AIDS are guaranteed their rights and freedoms.

For information about HALCO’s recent activities, please see the clinic’s most recent annual report.

Cyberjustice – the future of justice? A visit to University of Montreal’s Cyberjustice lab.

Shortly after arriving at University of Montreal’s Faculty of Law, I am escorted into a long and narrow observation room. End-to-end tables in the darkened space support two banks of monitors, tended to by a hushed but friendly staff. Across the two-way glass, a mock trial unfolds in a courtroom that is specially designed for research and experiments.

I have reached the Cyberjustice lab: a globally-unique project in scope and in size, dedicated to the study of technology’s implications for access to justice.

Click here to download image.