Minister of Justice Mickey Amery is sworn into cabinet, in Edmonton, Friday, June 9, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson.

By Canadian Press

LAW

Alberta Law Foundation board members quit over bill giving minister power on grants

Apr 11, 2025 | 1:08 PM

Two of the Alberta Law Foundation’s provincially appointed board members have resigned in protest over proposed legislation that they say amounts to political interference in how vulnerable people access the justice system.

The bill would give Justice Minister Mickey Amery final say on grants over $250,000 that the foundation provides to community legal clinics and researchers.

The foundation says it funds about 65 non-profit service providers every year through interest earned on lawyers’ trust accounts, not government coffers.

Seun Ogunsola says in his resignation letter that the legislative change would strip the foundation of its independence and undermine its work.

He says the bill poses a serious threat to organizations that the foundation funds and to the Albertans who rely on its legal assistance.

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The foundation says Amery has already denied some grants and approved others at reduced rates.