The case, launched in 2017 by the Single Mothers Alliance, argues that the province’s legal aid funding for women fleeing abuse is inadequate and puts them at further risk. A judge will hear final arguments in their constitutional case this week as the province tries for a second time to have the lawsuit dismissed. “Gender-based domestic violence is truly a matter of life and death,” said Viveca Ellis, the advocacy group’s executive director, who is a single parent of a 12-year-old son. “When women who are already marginalized and experiencing poverty have to navigate this system on their own… they are very, very, very at risk. “My personal experience as a single mother drives my passion for all of this work,” added Ellis. “It’s a case of welfare, safety and real access to justice. Because without representation and without being able to navigate the system, they’re really left out of it.” Experts say risks for women navigating the legal system alone include adverse case outcomes — such as reduced access to children — and exposure to further abuse by ex-partners through face-to-face mediation, disruptive court depositions or out-of-court meetings . Additionally, the time immediately following the end of abusive relationships is when the risk of violence against women is highest.
“Access to the courts cannot mean unlimited funding”
The province’s Attorney General’s Department declined to comment, saying the matter is before the courts. In her legal filings, she argued that the Single Mothers Alliance cannot speak for the interests of all single mothers because a “test case” of a constitutional issue requires an individual plaintiff to sue. The province said it provides adequate funding for the lowest-income single parents. However, he argued, not everyone needs a lawyer to get a fair outcome. “The province agrees that it is an important policy objective to make reasonable access to the courts … available to low- and moderate-income British Columbians,” BC lawyers wrote in a response dated May 14 last year, and “that single mothers have special needs in this respect”. The province increased legal aid funding this year by about $8 million, but for a single mother with one child, for example, the province cuts eligibility at a net income of just over $29,000. (Ben Nelms/CBC) But the attorney-general and the Legal Services Society said “access to the courts cannot mean virtually unlimited funding for legal representation”. “The province denies that mothers are, in general, uniquely placed to articulate and advance children’s interests in family law proceedings,” they said.
“Single mothers should have their day in court”
West Coast LEAF, a women’s legal nonprofit that follows the case for the Single Mothers Alliance, said these arguments are a “distraction” from systemic problems. “The justice system itself is being used as a weapon … where people’s legal aid hours are running out,” said Raji Mangat, executive director of West Coast LEAF. “These are really important issues and they need to be heard by a judge, and single mothers need to have their day in court.” Legal aid is offered to very low income people in BC, but has limited hours. Administered by the Legal Services Corporation, which offers Legal Aid BC Website and hotline for such matters. If you are a low-income person facing a family law issue, you may be eligible for free legal advice over the phone. To find out if you qualify, call 604-408-2172 (Greater Vancouver) 1-866-577-2525 (all of BC) or visit our website – https://t.co/Xom764Yc2z. —@legalaidbc “You can hire a legal aid attorney to represent you in your family law case in emergency situations,” the website states, such as obtaining restraining orders. If budgets allow, lawyers may be provided “to resolve serious legal issues in high-conflict cases.” Earlier this year, the province increased legal aid funding by a total of about $8 million and the income threshold for family law cases increased by almost 4 per cent. But for a single mother with a child, for example, the province terminates legal representation on net income of just over $29,000 — or $41,000 in certain limited circumstances, such as child welfare or criminal cases not to go to trial. University of BC law professor Margot Young says BC has one of the lowest-funded legal aid systems in Canada, per capita. He said the single mothers’ lawsuit is a “landmark case” — one that, if successful, could have ramifications for other provinces with similar barriers facing single mothers. “The disparity in the ability to access representation results in the legal system being used as another form of abuse for these women,” said Young, director of UBC’s Center for Feminist Legal Studies. “It would be profoundly ironic if it were true that this issue could only arise if it was brought by individual single mothers. “Because the whole case is about the inability of these women to access the legal system.”
