We are featured in a Law Times article on June 25, 2019, written by Duffie Osental
Community legal clinic appeals budget cuts imposed by Legal Aid Ontario
Staff will be laid off to cover rent
The Chinese & Southeast Asian Legal Clinic, a community legal clinic that provides services to low-income clients from the Chinese, Vietnamese, Laotian and Cambodian communities, has announced that it will be appealing a decision by Legal Aid Ontario to reduce its budget.
LAO slashed the budget of all community legal clinics following a $133-million funding cut by the Ontario provincial government. Aside from cutting CSALC’s funding by 1.2 per cent of its annual budget, LAO also announced that it will not provide any in-year increases — including provisions for increases in rent. CSALC’s current lease will expire on Sept. 30 and the clinic is facing a 250-per-cent increase in rent from Oct. 1 onwards.