TOUGH LAWS COULD BREAK LEGAL AID, LAWYER WARNS

Moves by the federal Tories to get tough on crime will mean more
money will be spent defending people accused of crimes, legal aid
providers said yesterday.

Mayland McKimm, a Victoria lawyer and a board member of the Legal
Services Society which provides legal aid, said in an interview that
get-tough measures contemplated by Ottawa will strain legal aid to
the breaking point, maybe even to a halt.

"When these draconian laws come in we are simply going to run out of
money," said McKimm, who pointed out that once the society's money
runs out, the legal aid stops.

The federal government has about 15 justice bills on the drawing
board, part of an ambitious law-and-order agenda. Among the moves
contemplated are increased use of mandatory minimum sentences and a
Canadian version of a three-strikes law, whereby someone who commits
three violent or sex crimes will be presumed a dangerous offender
unless a judge can be convinced otherwise.

McKimm said these measures will only increase the workload on the
courts. Three strikes and mandatory minimum sentences mean defence
lawyers will have no choice but to go to trial instead of negotiating
a guilty plea and sentence, he said.

"Once you take away the courts' discretion to deal with things in a
reasonable way, then I'm going to go to trial," said McKimm, a lawyer
for 23 years.

Legal aid supplies lawyers for people who could otherwise not afford
them. The federal government's total commitment to legal aid is about
$123 million, with $20 million going to an investment fund and $11.5
million going to immigration cases, and the remainder going to criminal work.

The national Association of Legal Aid Plans of Canada called on the
federal government yesterday to make a long-term, stable commitment
to legal aid.

Federal comment was unavailable.

In B.C., the Legal Services Society will spend about $71.3 million
this year providing legal aid for which the federal government kicks
in $12 million under a complicated cost-share agreement.

McKimm and Mark Benton, executive director for the Legal Services
Society of B.C., said the legal aid organizations are mandated to
spend only money they have. They envision a time when legal aid
simply shuts down months before the end of a fiscal year because all
the money is gone.

They also pointed out the federal government will not supply any
money for legal aid in civil court or family court.