Legal Aid Manitoba wants non-lawyers empowered to argue refugee claims

Legal Aid Manitobadoesn't believe someone should need a law degree to plead the case of refugee claimants who want to stay in Canada.

The organization hasasked theImmigration and Refugee Board of Canada for permission to use trainedadvocates rather than lawyers torepresent asylum-seekers, at least in some cases, after a surge in refugee claims last year as more people walked across the border into Manitoba.

The federal departmentsays it is barred bylegislation from granting the request. But TimValgardson, chairman of Legal Aid Manitoba, saysdiscussions between the parties are continuing.

"I really hope that it's not a roadblock, that the parties can sit down and really look at the big picture."

Legal Aid Manitoba is arguing it can save money by empowering a staff memberto prepare for a claimant'srefugee board hearing.

Assistance at every step

The advocate would prepare a legal aid application, complete the basis of claim form and ultimately provide representation during the hearing.

Theirwork wouldbesupervised throughout the process by a trained lawyer, Valgardson said.

He's adamant that claimantswould not receivesubstandard help.

"If we believed that the paralegalswe would train and put in place would not be doing an adequate job or a good job for our clients, it's not a road we would go down," he said.

"People are going to get good representation."

Welcome Place, which provideshousing to many asylum-seekers, believes the pilot project has merit.

GhezaeHagosBerhe, who works at the centre with refugee claimants, says Legal Aid's idea to invite an advocate to help with the preparation of refugee claims is encouragingbecause they sometimes struggle to find lawyers fortheir clients. He wouldn't comment on whether non-lawyersshould take part in the hearing.

"The root of the problem is the lack of financial incentive," he said."That is true for refugee claims and it actually gets worse when it comes to appeal cases for rejected refugee claim cases."

Currently, the lawyers that Legal Aid hires for immigration matters receive a tariff of $80 per hourthat's capped around 13 hours. An estimated cost savings through the new pilot project was not provided.

An official says the private bar would still have a role to play as the 100 or so cases the advocate wouldhandleis a fraction of the number of asylum seekers that requests Legal Aid's assistance.

The agency oversaw 989 legal matters, which translated tomore than 1,100 people, during the 2017-18 fiscal year when the number of irregular border crossings peaked in Manitoba.

This total more than triples the number of cases in 2016-17.

Reduction in Legal Aid claims

By mid-November of this year, Legal Aid's volumes dropped 24 per cent by the same time period in2017-18, as the flow of border crossingsslowed.

Valgardsonis hopeful Legal Aid's ideawill find favour inOttawa. He said the agency already uses advocates to provide representation servicesin the areas of residential tenancies and welfare appeals.

"What we're trying to do is ensure, on the limited budget we have, we can represent as many people as we can."

In Legal Aid's interpretation, the agencybelieves the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) allows the use of non-lawyers. Section 91 places "an entity, including a personacting on its behalf" in the same standingas a lawyer to provide representation or advice, an officialsays.

Also, the five-year Legal Aid agreement between Manitoba and Canadastates the province has the authority to determine howlegal aid is made available, the organization is arguing.

It raises all sorts of issues ifthe claims are denied and refugees say,'I wasn't represented by a lawyer.'- KennethZaifman, Winnipeg immigration lawyer

TwoWinnipegimmigration lawyers don't support the idea.

"I have serious concerns regarding both the intention and the details of the project," Alastair Clarke wrote in an email.

"Section 91of IRPA is designed to protect vulnerablepeople from poor representation."

Kenneth Zaifmanquestions whether an advocate would save much money when a lawyer is still looking over their work.

He believes Legal Aid can findefficiency by working with existing refugee or immigrant agencies to hire in-house lawyers who become experts at refugee hearings.

Inadequate representation?

Otherwise, "I think it raises all sorts of issues ifthe claims are denied and refugees say, 'I wasn't represented by a lawyer,'" Zaifman said.

TheImmigration and Refugee Board of Canada reiterated that lawyers are necessaryin a letter to Legal Aid, a spokesperson told CBC News lastmonth.

But "the IRB is interested in hearing from stakeholders to explore new and innovative ways to improve efficiency, with the objective of improving the timeliness of refugee protection decisions, without sacrificing the fairness of proceedings and the quality of the decisions," she added in an email.

After the first 11 months of the year, 399 irregular migrantswere apprehended by the RCMP while crossing into Manitoba between official ports of entry. A total of 1,018 people were stopped by Manitoba police in allof 2017.