Continue Reading IWC submission to workers’ compensation board review
Legal services
In its recent submission to the Workplace Safety & Insurance Board’s ongoing operational review, Injured Workers Community Legal Clinic (IWC) provides feedback informed by its knowledge of the on-the-ground reality of injured workers’ experiences when seeking support from the Board.
Regarding financial…
Legal aid cuts hurt communities – a message heard from across Ontario
A May Environics poll showed 75% of Ontarians oppose the government’s catastrophic 30% cut this year to Legal Aid Ontario’s budget. Since then, the consequences of the cuts to all legal aid services and clinics have become only too real as low-income…
Continue Reading Legal aid cuts hurt communities – a message heard from across Ontario
Why the funding cuts should be reversed
Two recent letters speak powerfully on the impact of the legal aid funding cuts on injured workers and ordinary people in Ontario. The first, a group letter (July 23) from six private bar lawyers specializing in workers’ compensation law to newly appointed…
Provincial Day of Action July 30 – stop legal aid cuts!
The cuts to legal aid and legal clinics target Ontario’s most vulnerable: workers injured on the job, people with disabilities, tenants facing eviction, women fleeing violence, refugees, immigrants, people on social assistance, people struggling with mental health, temporary and precarious workers, parents…
Continue Reading Provincial Day of Action July 30 – stop legal aid cuts!
This Thursday show your support for clinics
Make sure you’ve saved your seat on the bus! Join ONIWG and the Barrie District Injured Worker Group this Thursday to welcome the new Attorney General, Doug Downey, at his Barrie constituency office – and call on him to reverse the cuts.…
Continue Reading This Thursday show your support for clinics
“What will happen to them when we can’t help?”
“It’s just gut-wrenching to think about how we’re going to continue to serve the injured workers’ community….” Layoffs at Injured Workers Community Legal Clinic (IWC) give the lie to the Ford government’s often-repeated promise that not a single front-line worker will lose…
Continue Reading “What will happen to them when we can’t help?”
Legal aid cuts threaten program serving low-income workers in southwest Ontario
The results of the government report were damning, finding workplace violations widespread in Ontario:
we conclude that there is a serious problem with enforcement of ESA (Employment Standards Act) provisions. While most employers likely comply or try to comply … there are…
Continue Reading Legal aid cuts threaten program serving low-income workers in southwest Ontario
IWC: cuts will reduce services to injured workers
News release (June 14, 2019). On June 12th Injured Workers Community Legal Clinic was informed that our clinic’s budget was reduced by 22% retroactive to April 1st. As one of the “worker focused” specialty clinics in Ontario, we received one of the…
Continue Reading IWC: cuts will reduce services to injured workers
Legal Aid Ontario cuts specifically target injured worker services
Today, Legal Aid Ontario announced how they will implement Doug Ford’s funding cuts. While the cuts will be devastating to a range of services and sectors, of particular interest to injured workers is the fact that the province’s three worker-focused clinics…
Continue Reading Legal Aid Ontario cuts specifically target injured worker services
Cutting the lifeline to legal help
Low-income and disadvantaged Ontarians are asking why the province’s April budget is targeting their access to justice? The provincial government has cut funding to Legal Aid Ontario (LAO) by 36%. Because of this, LAO is proposing to cut the budget for Ontario’s…