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“We’ve been doing the work legal aid would normally be doing,” CDLA president Ian Savage said.

In the past year, Savage estimated the CDLA and the Criminal Trial Lawyers’ Association in Edmonton have brought forward approximately 500 formal Rowbotham applications on behalf of people who sought their advice.

The lawyers’ groups said they will cease providing free assistance to Rowbotham applicants on Nov. 1 and called on the government to increase funding to Legal Aid Alberta, the provincial society mandated to provide subsidized legal assistance to low-income Albertans.

“It’s not covering the working poor. We estimate the (900) people we saw is a fraction of the actual number of people out there who needed legal aid but gave up when they were denied coverage,” said Savage.

Funding for Legal Aid Alberta was a frequent flashpoint between the former PC government and the legal profession, especially since a precipitous decline in investment income from the arm’s-length Alberta Law Foundation that used to cover a much larger portion of the program’s operating expenses has left it increasingly dependant on government dollars.

Premier Rachel Notley consistently called for increased legal aid funding while in opposition, but the NDP government hasn’t made its position known prior to handing down its first budget later this month.

The government is undertaking a broader review of the province’s legal aid model, but Justice Minister Kathleen Ganley said Thursday it’s working with Legal Aid Alberta to come up with some interim measures before defence lawyers stop providing free Rowbotham services on Nov. 1.