Kingston legal clinic warns that cuts to Legal Aid funding could impact local community services

A Kingston legal clinic is voicing concern in response to the provincial budget released on Thursday, Apr. 11, 2019.

Kingston Community Legal Clinic, a non-profit community legal clinic which serves low-income residents in Kingston, South Frontenac Township, and Frontenac Islands Township, said the provincial budget’s call for significant cuts to Legal Aid funding in Ontario could result in a serious reduction in frontline services for the communities it serves. The 2019 Ontario budget saw the provincial government pull $133 million of funding to Legal Aid Ontario – a 29 per cent reduction in the funding.

“We are calling on the Attorney General, Caroline Mulroney, to make a commitment to access to justice, and to respect the commitment of her government to not decrease front line services, and to confirm that funding for community clinics will not be decreased,” said Lenny Abramowicz, the Executive Director of the Association of Community Legal Clinics of Ontario.

For those with Kingston Community Legal Clinic, the impacts of the funding cuts is not yet known.

“We don’t yet know how this apparent cut will affect our local clinic,” said John R. Done, Executive Director of the Kingston Community Legal Clinic, noting that the clinic provides legal services, education and information to the most vulnerable residents in our community.

“We will work with our communities as the impact on our services becomes known,” he said.