The South West Community Legal Services Society opened its doors in Swift Current. Cal Clark was the first legal director of the clinic, which also operated sub-offices with alternating hours of operation in Kindersley, Maple Creek, Shaunavon and Ponteix.

The Parkland Legal Assistance Society opened a clinic in Yorkton, staffed by two lawyers, a community development worker, and two administrative assistants. The clinic provided community outreach by speaking to groups, schools and individuals about the law, legal aid, and human and property rights.

With Dave Andrews as its clinic director, the Qu’Appelle Community Legal Assistance Society opened a legal aid clinic to serve residents bounded by the Wynyard, Milestone and Last Mountain Lake areas. The office team included another lawyer, two paraprofessionals, an articling student, a summer student, and two office staff.

The Pasqua Community Legal Services Society opened a clinic in Melfort with Ron Saretzky at the helm. In addition to another staff lawyer, articling student, stenographer and a receptionist, a court worker was employed to appear in court on the advice of the lawyers on adjournments or guilty pleas, and in some cases gave advice on quasi-legal matters. The clinic operated a satellite office in Nipawin once a week.

Gerald Allbright, director of the Regina Legal Assistance Clinic, was appointed the new director of the Saskatchewan Community Legal Services Commission, replacing Linton Smith who completed his yearlong commitment.

Five people supported by the Association of Metis and Non Status Indians of Saskatchewan were voted to the Regina Community Legal Services Society: Agnes Sinclair, Valarie Morris, Larry Lafontaine, Fred Schoenthal and Ed Pelltier.

The Regina Community Legal Services Society president, Jim Sinclair, said approximately 95% of the cases the centre handled included Indigenous people, so the move to add more Indigenous voices was done to benefit that community.

The society’s goal was to employ Indigenous people in all aspects of community work, such as economic development and housing.

Calvin Clark, legal director of the South West Community Legal Services Society in Swift Current, was appointed provincial director of the Saskatchewan Community Legal Services Commission, replacing Gerald Allbright who resigned.

Budget constraints mean the possibility of laying off 16 employees. President of Local 1949 CUPE, Andy Iwanchuk, met with Attorney General Roy Romanow and Saskatchewan Community Legal Services Commission Provincial Director, Cal Clark, to discuss. Iwanchuk said legal aid staff is already overworked and under pressure to keep up with the demand, so a layoff like this would have a severe impact on the entire province. A layoff would reduce the number of staff handling the case load, therefore reducing the amount of time invested into preventive programs and legal education in communities. The government was criticized for creating a progressive system, but failing to commit to maintaining it.

During the 1977-78 fiscal year, 16 new positions were filled by temporary employees. Due to the budget crunch and despite the Commission’s request for 38% more funding for the upcoming fiscal year, the Commission decided to issue a lay off notice effective for March 31, 1978. If additional funding comes through before then, the layoff notice will be cancelled.

The Prince Albert and District Community Legal Services Society announced it would no longer provide legal services to the three local penal institutions because of budget constraints. They also ceased to provide rural clinics or rural duty counsel service. Terry Bekolay, legal director, said the only other option is to cut staff, which they refuse.

The Saskatchewan Community Legal Services Commission passed a motion requesting that legal aid services be reinstated at the Saskatchewan Penitentiary, Provincial Correctional Centre, and Pine Grove Correctional Centre, and that workload pressures be relieved by the use of private bar farmouts.

CUPE 1949 legal aid employees from across the province took part in a one-day study session undersigned to interrupt the provision of legal aid services. Staff in the Moose Jaw and Estevan-Weyburn offices were not CUPE members, but supported the action. Emergency services were provided by the Association of Clinical Lawyers.

The Saskatchewan Community Legal Services Commission passed a motion requesting that effective May 31, 1978 the 16 temporary positions considered for layoffs be made permanent. This decision was made even though the request to the government for more funding had not yet been responded to.

The Commission also requested that all farmouts to the private bar cease immediately because the funds allotted for farmouts for the year had already been spent. Although most clinics had paralegals to complement the teams of lawyers, the heavy workloads often led to farmouts. Clients were to be restricted to clinic lawyers only.

At the time, there were approximately 6,000 farmout cases per year for a cost of $100,000 per month. In Regina alone, more than 1,500 cases were farmed out. Approximately 90% of the cases in Saskatoon went to the private bar.

Attorney General Roy Romanow said the legal aid program had “gone off the tracks.” The program was originally intended to serve first and foremost criminal matters, but most time was spent on civil matters and farming out the criminal matters to the private bar. Romanow pointed to this practice as to why the Commission had financial problems.

The 30 members of the Saskatoon’s Criminal Defence Lawyers’ Association began providing duty counsel in Saskatoon’s arraignment court to ensure that people without financial means were still provided with needed legal services. Participating lawyers took turns handling cases while forfeiting the $200 full-day fee.

The association noted its support for the provincial legal aid program and called for the reinstatement of private bar farmouts.

Faced with a $250,000 shortfall, the Saskatchewan Community Legal Services Commission was unable to establish priorities in staffing and the delivery of services. Upon request by the Attorney General, the Commission requested to each local board that by August 15, 1978 they provide a written plan to reduce its expenditures.

A report ordered by the Saskatchewan Community Legal Services Commission is prepared by Edmonton management consultants Peat, Marwick and Partners.

This report identified several key issues with the current legal aid program:

• The local boards lack legal knowledge because they are primarily laypeople and are not provided with sufficient training.
• Staff members are often confused about who their employer is – the local board or Commission?
• Morale is declining amongst paraprofessionals due to lack of training, high workload and lack of communication with the Commission.
• A staff shortage is creating a backlog of case work and unnecessary delays for clients.

The report suggested a full-time Chairperson be hired, as well as General Counsel to provide professional guidance for the local offices.

The Saskatoon Community Legal Services Clinic announces it will close at the end of the month unless more money is allocated by the provincial government. Anne Baszucki, Chair of the board, noted that the clinic has managed more than 4,000 cases already that year, and cannot make the budget cuts as requested by the Commission without harming the quality of services.

Attorney General Roy Romanow called the decision irresponsible. Robert McKercher, president of the Law Society of Saskatchewan, agreed, and said the legal aid system is experiencing growing pains and should reassess its goals and priorities.

The Saskatchewan Community Legal Aid Commission revised its decision to prohibit private bar farmouts. All new farmouts required written permission from the Commission, and would only be provided for charges with life sentences and those involving conflicts of interest.

The Prince Albert and District Community Legal Services Society called for the removal of the Saskatchewan Community Legal Services Commission and for a provincial inquiry into the operation of the advisory board, mainly its $250,000 deficit. All 13 local boards stated that this deficit cannot be attributed to overspending by the clinics, rather by mismanagement of the Commission.

Merv Shaw, director of the Moose Jaw legal aid clinic, contemplated laying himself off for a few months in order to save the clinic $11,000. As per the Commission’s request for local boards to cut the expenditures, the Moose Jaw clinic had also made cuts to its long-distance phone budget and travel budget.

The Prince Albert and District Community Legal Services Society announced rotating layoffs to accommodate the required budget cuts. Employees of the clinic decided on a rotating schedule of weeks off without pay.

The Saskatchewan Community Legal Services Commission announced it would take over the Saskatoon Community Legal Services Clinic on September 1, 1978. All current staff were told they could stay on board if they so choose.

The North Battleford and Qu’Appelle legal aid boards were decertified by the Saskatchewan Community Legal Services Commission for the boards’ failure to advise the Commission on ways the clinics could cut back expenditures. The Commission was to take over the operation of these clinics, and said it would allow the boards to come back with a proposed revised budget.

The Commission accepted the budget cuts proposed by the following local boards:

• Meadow Lake
• Parkland
• Pasqua
• Prince Albert
• Regina
• South East
• South West
• Valley
• Moose Jaw
• Northern

The provision of legal aid services in Saskatoon officially transferred to the Saskatchewan Community Legal Services Commission. The Commission was hopeful the local board will take over the clinic again soon, but the board said that was not possible under the current restrictive funding requests.

Amidst the period of financial restraint and concerns of ineffective management practices, Attorney General Roy Romanow appointed Judge McClelland to review the quality, level and costs of legal aid services in Saskatchewan. This included a look at:

• the legislation and regulations as related to the quality of services;
• the composition and roles of both the Commission and the community societies in carrying out the philosophy and objectives;
• appropriate management structures and financial constraints;
• the role of the Department of the Attorney General in relation to the Commission; and
• other matters as considered relevant in the delivery of legal aid services in Saskatchewan.

The Saskatchewan legal aid plan was, at that time, the second most expensive per capita in Canada (after Ontario).

The Saskatchewan Community Legal Services Commission handed over control of the Saskatoon Community Legal Aid Services Clinic to the local board. This shift was called “temporary” as the McClelland inquiry took place. If the review was favourable, the board would retain control of the clinic. Most former employees returned to their positions.

Regina’s defence lawyers said the Saskatchewan Community Legal Services Commission was breaching The Community Legal Services Act by refusing legal aid claimants their choice of solicitor in criminal proceedings and requiring written permission for the use of a private bar lawyer.

The Commission said all legal aid claimants must get counsel from legal aid clinics in all cases that do not involve the death penalty or life in prison. This contradicted the clause for freedom of choice laid out in the Act.

Calvin Clark, the provincial director of the legal aid system, resigns, two days before the McClelland Report is made public.

Linton Smith was assigned to take over until legislation was intact that allowed someone other than a lawyer to be in that position. An administrator is preferred given the nature of the role.

Judge McClelland submitted his review of the legal aid system to Attorney General Roy Romanow. In total there were 18 recommendations given.

The report acknowledged that financial problems arose from the Saskatchewan Community Legal Services Commission’s underestimation of farmouts and the impression that the legislation gave the Commission unrestrained right to farmouts. Therefore, McClelland recommended the Commission establish an increasingly competent body of clinic legal aid solicitors, and thereby amend the Act in repealing the clause and reducing the number of referrals to the private bar. 

“To bring the cost of legal aid under control, the clinical system must be developed to the point where it is capable of handling the bulk of the criminal matters of eligible applicants. Referrals to the private bar must be substantially reduced and the funds that otherwise would be used to support these referrals channeled into the legal aid clinics to provide staff and staff training.” – Judge R.H. McClelland

McClelland singled out Commission errors in estimating budgets as the root cause of the financial turmoil throughout the previous year. The Commission built up a surplus in the first three years of the plan, then spent the $450,000 surplus on hiring 16 additional employees. The commission grossly underestimated the cost of referring cases to private lawyers (estimated to be $600,000, but in actuality it cost more than $1,000,000). McClelland also noted that local boards should have more input into financial operations and that the Commission adopt a global budget perspective, aside from salaries.

Romanow felt the principles of the report were sound, and agreed to make several of the recommendations a reality, including repealing the section of The Community Legal Services Act that gives legal aid clients the unrestricted right to choose any solicitor to argue cases relating to Criminal Code offenses to those persons charged with offenses punishable by death or life imprisonment. 

The 1979-1980 Provincial Budget is revealed. As a result of the McClelland Report, legal aid spending increased 14% to a total of $4 million. Finance Minister Walter Smishek said the increase is a direct result of the recommendations of the report.

Saskatchewan Community Legal Services Commission Chair Colvin Payson said the budget increase would be allocated towards increased hiring and to help bring the service levels back up to where they were before the fiscal crisis.

The Yetha Ayisiniwuk Legal Services Society was certified as the board for the Northern Legal Services Office. Until this time, the clinic had been operating under the direct control of the Saskatchewan Community Legal Services Commission.

Changes to the Community Legal Services Act were applied, including:

• increased autonomy for area boards and increased financial independence from the central Commission; and
• to reduce the amount of spending on private bar farmouts, mandatory assignment of a legal aid lawyer except in cases involving first or second-degree murder, breaking, entry or theft, rape, drug trafficking. These cases were to be referred to a private bar lawyer

Conservative justice critic Gary Lane criticized these changes, noting that young lawyers would work for legal aid to gain experience on the government’s dime, then leave and go into private practice.

Ian Wilson was appointed the first full-time chairman (replacing Colvin Payson) and filled the vacant role of Commission Director. Wilson was deputy education minister since 1973 (he had no legal background).

A two-day seminar was held in Saskatoon for Commission members and staff from the 13 area offices. This was the first seminar of its kind for the organization. Topics of discussion included:

• Public perception and attitude of legal aid
• Eligibility
• Scope of legal aid services (proportion of criminal to civil work performed)
• Prepaid legal insurance plans
• Professional burnout

“If the public attitude is that legal services are a low priority, the politicians will be more than happy to go along with them and cut back funding. But if the public appreciates the right of all people to help in coping with our system of justice, then we move to another plateau.” – Ian Wilson, Chair of the Saskatchewan Community Legal Services Commission

The Regina Community Legal Services Society announced manpower to establish a legal aid education program. In 1978, when farmouts to the private bar were halted, staff lawyers became overwhelmed with work. About 300 cases were turned down due to capacity.

Two new lawyers have since been hired. In 1979, the society handled 1,372 indictable cases under the Criminal Code, and 880 summary criminal charges. The total number of cases that year was 3,725. In 1979 there were only 762 indictable offenses.

The new legal aid education programs included a comic book directed at children, as well as having available speakers for high schools and colleges.

The Saskatoon Community Legal Aid Services Clinic produces a comic book as part of its legal education program. Called Truth or Dare, it was intended for youth and covered such topics as assault, drugs, driving and breaking and entering. Truth or Dare was distributed at community centres, other legal aid clinics and a tutoring centre.

The Provincial Auditor of Saskatchewan, W.G. Lutz, criticized the financial administration of the Saskatchewan Community Legal Services Commission, claiming the auditor’s office was unable to determine for the year under review (ending March 31, 1980) if only eligible persons received legal aid.

Eligibility was delegated to local boards. Seven of the local boards refused access to the records, and the other six boards did not have adequate records to verify accurate information was provided by recipients of legal aid.

The Regina Community Legal Services Society proposed to cut back on handling criminal cases due to lack of money and staff and an increase in crime in the city. This included:

• Failing to remain at the scene of an accident; dangerous driving; driving with blood alcohol in excess of 0.08; impaired driving; refusing to give a breath sample
• Common assault; theft of less than $200; possession of less than $200 in stolen property; fraud in obtaining transportation or food; willful damage
• Possession under The Narcotic Control Act and The Food and Drug Act, which includes everything from marijuana, LSD, heroin, and MDA.

The office also cut back on seminars, photocopying, the library budget and taxi rides. To help people seeking legal services, the office created a brochure to guide them through self-defense in trial.

To ease the burgeoning caseload, the Saskatchewan Community Legal Services Commission offered its General Counsel, Harold Pick, to help throughout the summer (expectation that he would manage 30 to 40 cases per month).

A growing transient population, high unemployment, and an increase in crime put pressure on legal aid lawyers. Saskatoon’s community legal aid clinic cut services to those facing impaired driving charges, refusal to do a breathalyzer, petty fraud, uncontested divorce, certain maintenance actions and matrimonial property disputes. A two-week hiatus in the summer was proposed so that the staff lawyers could catch up with their existing caseload.

Provincially, the unemployment rate was 4%. Regina’s unemployment rate was 3.4% and Saskatoon’s unemployment rate 6.6%.

Don Purich, Legal Director of the Valley Legal Assistance Clinic Society, was appointed Director of the Native Law Centre. The Native Law Center was started by Roger Carter in 1973 and was the only one of its kind in the country. The purpose of the center was to assist native students in transitioning to university learning. It was established in response to the low number of Indigenous lawyers in Canada. The Native Law Centre was designed after a similar program in New Mexico.

In his new role, Purich wanted to expand the program to educate non-Indigenous communities about native issues (such as land rights, hunting and fishing, etc.) to bridge the understanding gap.

The Saskatchewan Community Legal Services Commission instituted a program to help track caseloads. Each person who applied for legal aid at any of the clinics was required to out an application form. The clinic kept a copy and the Commission kept another. This information was used to track caseloads, influence clinic budgets, assess waiting periods, and track the number of clients rejected.

Each clinic was also required to submit to the Commission a weekly activity report on each lawyer’s work. In turn, the Commission used this data to petition the government for additional funding.

The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms came into force.

Sections 7 to 14 set out rights that protect Canadians when dealing with the justice system. They ensure that individuals who are involved in proceedings are treated fairly, especially those charged with a criminal offence.

Grant Devine, MLA from Estevan and leader of the Progressive Conservative Party, was elected as the 11th premier of Saskatchewan.

The Saskatchewan Community Legal Services Commission suspended private bar referrals for a period of three months. Because of budget constraints, all cases were to be handled by the 60 legal aid lawyers in the province’s clinics and the three lawyers employed by the Commission. Ian Wilson, Chair, said he hoped the Commission would be at a break-even point at the end of the three-month suspension, as they do not have the mandate to operate on a deficit.

Previously, legal aid clients had an opportunity to choose from a panel of 250 panel lawyers for representation in certain types of cases.

Representatives from the Regina legal aid clinic and the Criminal Defense Lawyers Association of Regina met  and both groups agreed that Section 21 of the Community Legal Services Act – the section giving an accused person a choice of counsel – should be reinstated (it was revoked following recommendations of the McClelland Report). 

The private bar was also concerned about clinic lawyers’ availability after 5 p.m. and the long waiting period before an accused has an appointment with one of the lawyers. At that time, there was a four to six week period between arranging an appointment and the actual meeting between lawyers and client, which delayed the judicial process and fueled a backlog in the courts.

“We have a responsibility to the Saskatchewan Law Society to maintain well-rounded articles. If the clinics are doing all the criminal proceedings, it becomes an expertise limited to clinics.” – Roy Wellman, Chair of the Criminal Defense Lawyers Association of Regina

Judge MacPherson was appointed to lead a comprehensive review of the legal aid program. The purpose of his review was to address concerns raised by private bar. Some private bar solicitors were commenting that the legal aid clinics were serving clients who could afford private legal counsel. Judge MacPherson was also to examine the financial problems affecting staffing and services at legal aid clinics.

Saskatchewan Community Legal Services Commission Chair Ian Wilson announced that the private bar freeze would extend until April 1, 1983. At that time, certain legal aid clinics would be free to choose from the full panel of private bar lawyers. Even with the six-month freeze on private bar referrals, the bill to the private bar for the 1982-83 fiscal year was expected to exceed $400,000.

The first three months of the freeze didn’t realize much of a decrease in expenditures because many cases were still incomplete and the payments continued.

There were no instances of client complaints received regarding the lack of choice of counsel.