Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - January 7, 1990, Winnipeg, Manitoba Winnipeg free press january paged Patrick City editor murder charge leaves friends in sniffy supporters Force artist to local Northend residents line up for service at the Legal Aid Manitoba office on main one of its busiest by Nick Martin the Golden boy besieged by pinstriped pick ets not says Manitoba bar association president George but that Doest mean Manitoba lawyers Arent miffed by Legal Aid fees that have been stuck at an hour since we have a fairly conservative bar in youre not going to see lawyers picketing outside the he but Orle and other lawyers warn that Low income Manitoban busted by the cops or embroiled in Domestic disputes will have fewer and fewer lawyers from whom to choose at Legal Aid and will increasingly get those fresh out of school or who need the fort five Bucks an hour May sound like a bundle at Many downtown Winnipeg High Rise Law firms that normally charge an hour and up for experienced Law As much As 60 per cent goes to secretarial and support equipment and office Orle predicts the Public will demand the province increase Legal Aid fees to As much As or an hour to ensure the Quality of the system Doest but other lawyers privately concede that a government beset by Money demands from All that says it cant afford to pay daycare workers More than a year or keep specialized doctors in the is not Likely to Ante up a raise for Justice minister Jim who ruled out any increase during the last two refused yesterday to drop any hints about the 1990 priorities must be and the rate Orle wants is a quantum Mccrae the Bottom line is to see people Are properly represented in he we would look at it again As we have the past two there Haven been com plaints for higher fees from anyone but Manitoba Legal Aid sys tem works on a mixed thirty Public lawyers staff offices in Winnipeg and smaller while about 500 of the provinces lawyers take Legal Aid cases at an Legal Aid Manitoba executive director Allan Fineblit believes the province has Canadas Best leg Alaid system so Good that Australia is sending an observer Here in the Middle of Winter to Check it our average staff lawyer has 10 years at the we now have an senior staff id put up against any Law firm in the Fineblit its All Well and Good for lawyers to charge an but if there Are Only three hours Worth of clients a Day that Are willing to pay the you might As Well have someone paying lawyers seek quantum leap in Legal Aid fees or Lowe income clients will Manitoba bar association president warns your he Fineblit acknowledged that finding a Pool of family lawyers who will accept Legal Aid cases is much tougher than getting criminal largely because of the greater potential for paying clients in family without a fee that Pool could shrink he crime is economically if you go into the courthouse youre going to see poor if you want any kind of a you have to do substantial Legal spokesmen for the Manitoba Antipoverty social assistance coalition of and the Consumers association of Canada said Treyve heard no widespread complaints about Legal Al though some Low income people Are irked that it generally wont handle lawsuits against but Jenny cacs Manitoba pres has heard some complaints about at an you have to wonder if there putting in All the extra work in preparing a Case that they would for an she la Paul Edwards the lib eral Justice wants higher but adds i wont say what fee i would put on the government int made of former nip attorney general Roland Penner made a Deal with the lawyers to increase the rate by but it stalled at when the tories won the 1988 in this we Are always run Ning at 50percent Edwards said from his 19thstorey Law office in the heart of downtown Justice minister Jim Mccrae is not saying whether there will be an increase in Legal Aid fees this year lawyers feel a professional responsibility and a social obligation to help Legal Aid if the remuneration makes it Worth my while to do the he we dont want to be insulted by the govern ment paying us what May not amount to our Legal Aid cases Are shunted Down in firms to very Junior simply for them to get and even Arti cling students Are paid at least an hour in larger Edwards amongst a lot of experienced they wont touch they feel neglected and burned by the i have to account to the partners every the next time a Legal Aid person comes i say can i afford to take a loss who specializes in Domestic is listed for Legal Aid but Hast done a Case in most experienced family lawyers stay on the never knowing when a Legal Aid Case May pop but its not cos effective to take he with his firms Orle would need at least 000 a year in Legal Aid cases just to get a salary and be within Range of Legal aids staff and hed have none of the government pension and benefits Legal aids staff lawyers the Public should look at their own Orle and consider what they take Home if the equip ment and offices came out of their pock theres no one provides More professional services at a discount rate than a and then takes More Orle the Public Doest want to be relegated to a Public defender As in the United he but if lawyers dont get More you be surprised when the Quality starts to deter you can Only be charitable to a certain Douglas former chairman of the Legal Aid Board of pushed for fee increases the past few years so the system draw solely on Junior Yard rarely takes Legal Aid family Law cases now that Hes off the the person in most Likely to say in too Busy to is the Legal Aid you certainly prefer to work on something that going to pay you lawyers were frequently bogged Down with detailed leading to a new system that combined Block tariffs for certain work with an hourly rate of Yard that left criminal lawyers in a Good lawyers will stack up a whole afternoon of court time will be blocked off for 20 or 30 of their he but civil Law is far More Lamorand Yard those Guys Are not being paid Well on Legal and some of them Are even losing service covers family Law Legal Aid generally covers criminal Law and family Law matters such As custody and explains executive director Allan the major criterion for criminal charges is there a likelihood the person could go to jail or lose their Job demand has increased eight per cent a year since the program was introduced in economic hard farm bankrupt growing awareness of spouse and child More serious consequences for drunk magistrates willing to jail on first conviction for driving offences All have he eligibility ranges from income and various assets for a single person to for a family of a second program allows those who miss the guidelines by or so to get partial Legal Aid combined with their own Contri a unique Manitoba program helps people a Shade from whom lawyers want the Money up front for fear get stiffed on their Legal Aid pays the full shot at its Normal rate and is then repaid by the client at whatever he or she can that covers individuals to and up to for a family of the federally funded trial pro Gram began in our baddest rate is around five per i had a number of predictions from my colleagues in other provinces wed be running at 40percent bad Fineblit George president of the Manitoba bar believes lawyers should split the repayment the private lawyer is the Only one who takes a kicking on All the Benefit goes Back to Legal about 500 of Manitoba private lawyers Are Active Legal the program also has 30 staff lawyers in Dauphin and the working out of Community they provided free drop in advice to people in and counselled another entering straightforward guilty pleas or seeking the staff and private bar lawyers represented Manitoban in criminal and civil cases under a annual Bud get cos shared by Ottawa and the prov Fineblit Legal Aid also maintains a Public interest representing groups such As the Consumers association of Manitoba society of seniors and others that Are going head Ohead with the govern ment or intervening in Public but which Are strapped for expanded services into Northern and Remote areas is creating an even greater demand for drunk tank Refuge for sick inmates by Allison Bray inmates with medical conditions continue to be locked up in a drunk tank at the Winnipeg remand Centre almost two years after a judge urged that it animals at the zoo Are better taken care of than at the remand Liberal Justice critic Paul Edwards anybody who been to the remand Centre can Tell you its a Tim bomb for further he citing the 1987 death of an epileptic in the centres drunk Gregory whose brother Peter Brian died being moved from a cell to the drunk tank following a said it could take another death before the Justice department follows through on the inquest judges recommend my concern is because my brother died in an overcrowded someone else will suffer the same Fate As my Smy Chy Shyn provincial court judge Kris Stefanson re commended a medical observation unit be built at the remand Centre after Peter Tymchyshyn died july in his eight Page ruling following an quest into Tymchy shins Stefanson said the segregation or drunk is not an adequate or appropriate substitute for a proper medical observation but nearly two years after the remand Centre located in the Public safety building is still using the drunk tank to temporarily House those inmates with medi Cal we know its not were not any Wayne assistant director of adult corrections said about the recommendation being Scarth said that while inmates with medi Cal problems Are transferred to heading Ley correctional institution if they Are to be held More than a few others Are kept in the segregation unit where they Are periodically checked by a its not Good and we know its not but its the Only place where we can totally separate someone from the rest of the he but Edwards James said there has already been one attempted suicide at the Centre since Justice minister Jim Mccrae toured the facility 19 months ago and expressed revulsion at its squalid while Mccrae announced a lion remand Centre will be design changes needed to keep it within budget have delayed the Start of but Edwards said if a medical observation unit int built in the incidents like Tymchy shins death May be a group of remand Centre inmates became furious last fall after learning that a cell mate who was fined for spitting at guards during his arrest tested positive for the aids one inmate said he and fellow inmates cleaned up the aids carriers vomit after he was while others feared they might have been exposed after the Carrier received a bloody nose in a the aids virus is transmitted through blood or simple requests unheeded Graham executive director of the John Howard society of said inclusion of four or five medical observation units in plans for the new remand Centre indicate the extent of the he said the society remand Centre worker estimates that about 20 of the 190 current inmates require medical attention or super the Centre was designed for a Maxi mum of 130 As Reddoch said simple such As one inmates Appeal for Contact Lens cleaning solution to enable him to see pro often go my worker said in his Moni the medical shortfalls Are still fairly Reddoch said the Lack of fresh sunlight and adequate ventilation is also a accept Scarth said theres no question the Centre is but the problem is Lack of space at the we dont own the the City of Winnipeg is the he we think we could get a medical unit very quickly if we had More remand Centre superintendent Phil Durant said the City should be Able to free up space Over the Spring to allow a medical unit to be he said a Cellblock on the third floor of the building now used to store inmate clothing and personal belongings could be used when More space becomes available in the base ment after but Edwards said its inexcusable that the province would allow clothing storage to prevent the addition of a medical it would be a real travesty is Stefan sons recommendations Arent he adding its ironic that jails housing convicted criminals have adequate medical units while those simply charged but not convicted must put up with deplorable Condi ;