Specialty legal clinics across Toronto were told on Wednesday what the provincial government’s 30-per-cent cut to Legal Aid Ontario’s overall budget would mean for their organizations. A decision by Legal Aid Ontario to cut funding to clinics engaged in advocacy will have a direct and negative impact on the vulnerable clients they are still expected to serve, the head of a Toronto legal clinic warns. Legal Aid Ontario this week said that available funds are best spent on direct client work. “This cut is a direct attack on low-income people in this province, including the social assistance recipients and low-income workers that ISAC serves,” she said in a statement. “We will not be silenced.”Neighbourhood legal clinic Parkdale Community Legal Services was the heaviest hit by the cuts, losing $1 million.

Source: thestar June 12, 2019 21:44 UTC