Blog: Join the Day of Action on July 30 to Reverse Cuts to CELA

Blog post by Jacqueline Wilson, CELA Counsel on July 24, 2019

We reached out to CELA friends and supporters this week to ask for supporters and friends to call on the Ontario government to reverse the cuts to legal aid, and CELA specifically, as part of a province-wide day of action on July 30. As you know, the government of Ontario significantly reduced funding to Legal Aid Ontario in the last budget and Legal Aid Ontario has reduced CELA’s budget by approximately 30% phased in over two years.

These budget cuts endanger access to justice across the province, including for legal aid on environmental issues. This further hampers local citizens from participating in the environmental decisions that matter to their health and environment.

We are hoping you can help us spread the message about why CELA is important to you or your organization’s work.

On July 30, it would be extremely helpful if you can call or email any or all of the following people to tell them how CELA has helped you or your organization and that you want to see the cuts to CELA, and legal aid clinics, reversed:

1- Contact your MPP. To find our who your MPP is, check here: https://voterinformationservice.elections.on.ca/en/election/search?mode=postalCode. Let us know if you need assistance determining who your MPP is.

2- Contact Attorney General Doug Downey: attorneygeneral@ontario.ca or 705-726-5538

3- Contact the Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks Jeff Yurek: minister.mecp@ontario.ca or 416-314-6790

Join a local action:

As well, legal aid clinics across the province are organizing actions and we encourage you to join (and represent CELA!): https://aclco.org/day-of-action/. The Association of Community Legal Clinics of Ontario website will be continuously updated. If you don’t see an event close to you, let us know and we can find out what is being organized.

If you are planning to attend a local event, let us know if we can do anything to assist and send us pictures of the action!

If you need more information, contact:

Jacqueline Wilson, Counsel

T: 416-960-2284 ext. 7213 / Toll-free: 1-844-755-1420

jacqueline@cela.ca

We are so grateful for the messages of supports we’ve received so far and for the wonderful community we serve,

The CELA Staff