By Canadian Press

Lametti swats back at Ontario attorney general over legal aid spending

Jul 23, 2019 | 1:45 PM

OTTAWA — Federal Justice Minister David Lametti says the Ontario government’s rejecting shared responsibility for legal aid as an “excuse for spending cuts” will leave many of the province’s most vulnerable at greater risk.

In a letter sent today to the Ontario attorney general, Lametti says the federal government has consistently recognized the importance of working with its provincial counterparts on matters relating to legal aid.

He says it should come as no surprise that he strongly disagrees with the path chosen by Ontario Premier Doug Ford.

In the spring, the provincial Progressive Conservative government announced it would cut funding for refugee- and immigration-law services provided by Legal Aid Ontario.

Ontario Attorney General Doug Downey recently wrote to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau directly and asked him to instruct his ministers to reply to the province’s requests to fill what he says is a funding gap of $25 million.

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He says the number of refugee claims in Ontario has soared by nearly 160 per cent since 2013 and connects the increase to the Trudeau government’s immigration policies.

The Canadian Press