The ability of the Parkdale Community Legal Services’ clinic to actually remain in the community it has served for almost 50 years has been put in jeopardy by funding cuts from Legal Aid Ontario, the clinic’s director says.

The clinic, which must leave its current location at Dufferin St. and Queen St. W., had been slated to move to a nearby location at King St. W. and Jameson Ave. in August, clinic director Johanna Macdonald told the Star.

She said Legal Aid Ontario — the provincial agency responsible for the legal aid plan and for providing funding to community legal clinics — had made an “approval in principle” to fund a five-year lease for the clinic’s new location, as well as funding for construction costs to help the clinic fit into the smaller space.

But then came the province’s budget on April 11, which included a 30 per cent cut to legal aid funding. By the end of that month, LAO said it was no longer able to commit to funding a lease beyond one year and would not provide money for construction, Macdonald said.

Across the province, community legal clinics — which provide legal services to low-income Ontarians — are bracing for a round of cuts after the LAO board meets Friday, when it is expected to discuss its response to the provincial budget.

The Parkdale clinic has been left scrambling — the new location is half the size of the clinic’s current space and Macdonald said the construction funding was needed to fit the entire staff and to be able to continue providing its services.

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The fact that LAO will only commit to funding a one-year lease also throws into doubt whether the Parkdale clinic can even move into the new space or stay in any space in the community for that matter, Macdonald said.

“The work was going to start at any point, the hammers were raised,” she said of the new location.

Details remain vague on the magnitude of the cuts to the clinic system, but the executive director of the Association of Community Legal Clinics of Ontario told the Star that it’s certain a reduction in funding will have an impact on front-line services.

“Right now the clinic system is extremely concerned and terrified that services to our communities, to low-income Ontarians, are going to be impacted,” Lenny Abramowicz said. “We’re just waiting for the axe to fall to find out whether our arms are going to get chopped off, or our legs are going to get chopped off ... We know it’s going to be terrible, we’re just waiting to see where specifically the hurt will be.”

Even before the provincial budget, the legal aid system had long been criticized as being underfunded and unable to provide services to all low-income Ontarians.

Aside from providing funding to the clinic system, Legal Aid Ontario also provides what are known as “certificates” to pay for lawyers to represent individuals in court, particularly in criminal and family cases. Despite annual 6-per-cent increases to the threshold to qualify for a legal aid certificate, a single person with no dependants must generally earn below $17,731 in order to qualify.

Statistics Canada calculated the low-income cut-off, before tax, for a single person living in a large metropolitan area in 2018 at $25,921.

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In an email to staff on April 29, Legal Aid Ontario CEO David Field said cuts to the clinics would save about $15 million, and that the remaining $78 million for the clinic system would “be allocated in recognition of those areas with highest client-facing needs,” though the email doesn’t get into specifics.

LAO spokesperson Graeme Burk said he could not provide further details as the board has not yet met.

Burk confirmed that LAO gave its approval in principle for Parkdale’s lease, but that there were then “material changes,” including a shortened lease term put forward by the landlord of the new location, “that would potentially have left the clinic in a financial risk if they terminated the lease early.”

(Macdonald disagreed, saying that by early April, “no terms had changed that manifestly changed the lease.”)

Burk said the “significant and material change” to LAO’s budget this year also led the agency to tell Parkdale it could now only commit to a one-year lease.

“Parkdale’s lease was not the only thing impacted by this — other one-time expenditures and indeed other leasing commitments have been put on hold,” he said.

Aside from its work providing legal services to low-income individuals, including many newcomers and refugees, the Parkdale clinic is also well known for its advocacy around tenants’ rights and rental increases in the neighbourhood. It also has a student program, where 20 students per semester as well as during the summer provide services under the supervision of staff.

“I came to this position because I know the needs in this community, so it’s devastating to see the cuts carried out in this way, and the pulling back of services,” Macdonald said.

She’s hoping LAO will reconsider its decisions regarding not only her clinic but the system as a whole. She wants the agency to recommit to funding a long-term lease as well as to provide construction costs so that the Parkdale legal clinic can remain in Parkdale.

“I would like to know as comprehensive information as possible about not just cuts for this year but for next year, and I would like to hear that they’re recommitting to space in this community that fulfils adequate and robust service to this community,” she said.