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Community Advocacy & Legal Centre
15 Year History - 1980-1995
Year by Year Highlights
¨
1981 ¨
o
Began working with out local cable station to produce a legal
information series on the legal system called “Down To Cases.” “Down To
Cases” was revived again in 1987-90. Clinic staff worked with the same
local cable station to produce legal information programs on poverty
law issues.
o
Documented a serious complaint against a collection agency for illegal
business practices. As a result of the clinic’s advocacy the Ministry
of Consumer and Commercial Relations revoked the agency’s licence.
o
Challenged a discriminatory taxi bylaw in Trenton and liberalized the
taxi bylaws and broke a city monopoly.
o
Started a tenant information series in the intelligencer called “Living
with the Landlord.”
¨
1982 ¨
o
Represented a young native client in a case challenging Section 120 of
the Indian Act that read, in part, “an Indian Child who is
expelled or suspended from school shall be deemed to be a juvenile
delinquent.” Ontario Provincial Court Judge D.K. Kirkland ruled the
section racially discriminatory and struck it down. This case was
precedent-setting and was reported across Canada.
o
Through court action, and subsequent media attention, ensured
Belleville’s parking bylaw was properly enforced thereby preventing
illegal towing and exorbitant towing charges to city residents.
o
Represented an ad hoc committee of concerned citizens to prevent aerial
spraying for gypsy moth in the Kaladar area.
¨
1983
¨
o
Challenged the Hastings County Social Services Committee’s arbitrary
withdrawal of special and supplementary assistance under the General
Welfare Assistance Act.
o
Represented the Belleville Tenants Association in a successful challenge
to the Residential Tenancies Commission reducing the landlord’s rental
increase from 50% to 20%.
o
Settled a human rights complaint, on the basis of handicap, on behalf of
a quadriplegic person against the Ontario Housing Authority who had
been refused accommodation.
o
Represented a citizen’s group in Ameliasburg Township fighting a large
scale illegal whey disposal being carried on by a local dairy. Clinic
staff worked with the Canadian Environmental Law Foundation, a legal
clinic specializing in environmental issues.
¨
1984
¨
o
Established the first satellite office in Madoc above the Centre
Hastings Resource Centre open Friday afternoons.
o
Helped to establish Youth Habilitation Quinte Inc. to serve the needs of
youth 16 and 17 years old and older for counselling, financial and
housing help, education and training, and legal assistance.
¨
1985
¨
o
Organized an information session on proposed changes to Workers’ Compensation law. This well attended event was the catalyst for the
formation of the Quinte and District Injured Workers Group (QDIWG).
o
Did
a great deal of public legal education speaking to over 40 community
groups ranging from the Rotary Club, to Women’s Institutes, to Loyalist
College classes, to single mothers’ groups.
¨
1986
¨
o
Produced several self-help videos on Small Claims Court procedures.
o
Co-sponsored a workshop on domestic violence with the Quinte
Coordinating Committee Against Domestic Violence held in September 1986.
o
Joined the newly formed Eastern Clinics Association. The group now has
several study groups: Executive Directors; Income Maintenance; Housing;
Workers’ Compensation and Support Staff. These groups meet on a
quarterly basis for training and networking.
o
Worked with other concerned community members and the Quinte Labour
Council to create the Gleaners Food Bank in Belleville.
o
Assisted in bringing Father Dennis Drainville, author of “Poverty in
Canada” and director of STOP 103 in Toronto to speak to the community.
o
Made
a submission to the Social Assistance Review Committee examining the
need for comprehensive social assistance reforms. SARC eventually
produced a report “Transitions.” Staff have been heavily involved in
reform efforts of the General Welfare Assistance Act and the Family Benefits Act ever since.
¨
1987
¨
o
We
moved to the new wheelchair accessible, and enlarged premises at 158
George Street in Belleville. The official opening was held June 1987.
o
Service was expanded to the Bancroft office on December 7.
o
Began offering a Duty Counsel service for tenants in Hastings County
every Wednesday morning. This free service has continued into 1995. We
restricted this service to reviewing all files on the docket, providing
advice to tenants, and assisting in settlement negotiations.
o
Presented to Father Sean O’Sullivan’s Committee on Advocacy for
Vulnerable Adults.
¨
1988
¨
o Mourned the sudden death of much-valued clinic
employee Bill Hockley. Bill was a community legal
worker
at the clinic since it began in December 1980. Originally
working through the Quinte Information and
Assistance
Centre, Bill was one of the people who developed the
concept
for a legal clinic in Belleville. Bill is still
remembered today by the
board, staff and clients.
o
Published “For Abused Women: A Legal Rights Handbook.” The first run
of this handbook was 4,000 copies and it was distributed throughout
Hastings and Prince Edward Counties. We then distributed it throughout
Ontario, targeting transition homes and shelters. Community Legal
Education Ontario, a legal clinic specializing in developing legal
education materials, has taken over updating, publishing and
distributing the handbook. At last count, 143,033 copies have been
distributed.
o
Organized a two day conference on March 24-25 called Law and the
Handicapped. This conference took in excess of 500 staff hours to
organize, a Herculean task that was accomplished in addition to the
staff’s regular responsibilities.
o
Clinic staff were successful in having a notorious local landlord fined
$200 for contempt of court and ordered to pay $800 in costs for his
disregard of the Judge’s Order.
o
Won
a precedent-setting decision from the Social Assistance Review Board for
a homeless client who had been improperly denied welfare on the basis
that she did not reside in Prince Edward County.
o
Clinic staff carried an active caseload of 40-60 files in addition to
their other responsibilities.
o
Developed a pamphlet bank to ensure that legal information was more
available to the community. Since 1988, we have distributed tens of
thousands of pamphlets. At one point we had in excess of 200 titles.
These pamphlets are available by mail, in response to inquiries or by
visiting any one of our four offices.
o
Published our first newsletter to clinic clients and the community. By
1995, we are producing 2-3 newsletter editions annually and distributing
in excess of 1,000 copies each.
¨
1989
¨
o
Presented a comprehensive submission to the Standing Resource Committee on
Bill 162 – An Act to Amend the Workers’ Compensation Act. Since then we
have responded to every significant policy change or law reform proposal
regarding the Workers’ Compensation Act.
o
Successfully prosecuted three landlords for breach of the
Landlord
and Tenant Act.
o
Acted as counsel for the Advocacy Committee at Prince Edward Heights at
an inquest into the death of one of the residents. Clinic staff were
active in the Advocacy Committee at the Heights from 1986 to 1993
considering many human rights issues for the developmentally
handicapped.
o
In
conjunction with Youth Habilitation Quinte Inc., applied for funding for
a Housing Resource Centre to assist tenants find accommodation in South
Hastings. This Centre is still operational today and has expanded
services to Prince Edward County.
o
Carried out an extensive outreach by mail campaign regarding
availability of our services and public legal education sessions.
¨
1990
¨
o
Participated on the Board of Directors for the non-profit housing
developments in North Hastings, Centre Hastings, and Prince Edward
County. We had also participated on the Belleville Non-Profit Housing
Board in earlier years.
o
Published a series of 20 articles on landlord and tenant law, which were
carried in local papers.
o
Won
benefits at the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Tribunal (WCAT) for a
clinic client who suffered from a debilitating industrial disease as a
result of workplace exposure to chemicals.
o
On
November 22, 1990, we obtained an interim injunction stopping Hastings
County Council from obtaining a list of names of the people who receive
welfare in Hastings County. Dubbed as the “welfare list” case, this
precedent setting case was eventually decided in the clinic’s clients’
favour in August, 1992.
¨
1991
¨
o
Clinic staff were heavily involved in planning and providing workshops
at the March 15-16 Affordable Housing conference sponsored by the Access
to Permanent Housing Committee. More than 200 people from across the
province attended the event. Workshops that clinic staff were primarily
responsible for included: homelessness, emergency housing, rent control
and tenants’ rights. We worked with the Landlord Self-Help Centre, a
legal clinic specializing in the legal issues affecting landlords, to
provide an information centre on their services.
o
Organized a conference “The Law and Seniors.” One hundred and thirty
five people attended from the two counties. We worked with the Advocacy
Centre for the Elderly (A.C.E.) to offer many workshops on legal issues
relevant to seniors.
o
Co-sponsored a presentation with the Quinte District Injured Workers
Group on occupational health and safety issues. We worked closely with
the Toronto Workers’ Occupational Health and Safety Clinic, a legal
clinic specializing in workplace issues to plan this event.
o
Successfully advocated for improvements in the processing of
applications for disability pensions under the Family Benefits Act.
As a result of our intervention with local and regional staff at the
Ministry, many cases settled without the necessity of a hearing before
SARB. Fairer treatment for all new applicants resulted. (We had had a
backlog of 138 SARB appeals to deal with!)
¨
1992
¨
o
Began a series of radio
programs on legal issues on two radio stations
– one in Belleville and one in Bancroft. These continue on a monthly
basis to this day.
o
Organized two major one day conferences on October 1 & 2 on social
assistance issues. October 1 was aimed at clients living on a low
income. The October 2 event was designed for service providers. In
addition to dealing with poverty law issues, workshops included:
“Putting a Human Face on Poverty” and “Can We Afford Social Justice in
Hard Times.”
o
Worked with a small coordinating committee in Lennox and Addington
County attempting to have a legal clinic funded there. Funding has
since been frozen.
o
Published 1,000 “Guide to Living on a Low Income in Hastings and Prince
Edward Counties.” Since then we have printed a second edition of 2,000
copies.
o
Chaired the Community Development Council’s Task Force on Hunger
(Belleville). We produced an 80 page report with our research findings,
and comprehensive recommendations to alleviate hunger and poverty.
Recommendations included social assistance reform. We continued to
participate on an implementation Committee for a further nine months.
This Committee was involved in more than 50 meetings with community
members and elected officials such as MPPs.
o
Worked for change to the
General Welfare Assistance Act to permit
“self-employment.” The law was eventually amended to permit benefits
for self-employed people, in the short term, if they were making
reasonable efforts to seek employment.
¨
1993
¨
o
Continued to do a great deal of advocacy around social assistance reform
issues with the provincial government.
o
Argued a human rights case which eventually lead to a large award to the
client. The landlord had discriminated against the tenant due to
receipt of social assistance.
o
Sponsored a number of legal information evenings in Bancroft on workers’
compensation law which led to the formation of the North Hastings
Injured Workers Group.
o
Clinic staff now carry caseloads of between 80-100 active files.
o
Organized a public legal education information booth at the Picton
Fair. We have also had fair booths on many occasions in Stirling,
Belleville, Madoc and Tweed.
o
Worked with a newly formed group of “Emergency Relief Service
Providers.” Several issues worked on included hydro deposits for low
income people, and the development of a Community Trust Fund.
o
Organized a one day ‘visioning’ day for Eastern Ontario clinics
regarding the future and efficacy of legal advocacy and the clinic
system.
¨
1994
¨
o
Commenced a formal complaint to the Ministry of Community and Social
Services regarding the conduct of enhanced verification officers hired
by the Hastings County Social Services Department. We had carefully
documented about a dozen cases. Following Ministry intervention many of
the reprehensible activities stopped. The complaint is still not
completely resolved. We have asked that the 600-700 people affected by
the enhanced verification officers’ conduct be apprised of their rights
to appeal any decision made as a result of the investigations.
o
Formed a Deaf Community Advisory Committee to assist the Board and staff
to improve services to the deaf community. In addition to obtaining TTY
equipment, clinic staff began to plan for a legal information video
series for the deaf to be aired on a local cable TV station. Filming of
the video series began January 1995 and will be completed by December
1995.
o
Organized a major four day training event for Eastern Ontario legal
clinics in May 1994 on workers’ compensation law, social assistance law,
and
community development. We worked closely with the Kingston Community
Legal Clinic and the Clinique Juridique Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry.
We also organized the first ever two day event for Eastern clinic
support staff.
o
Prepared a submission called “Federal Social Programme Reform:
Dismantling Our Social Safety Net.” It was provided to the Standing
Committee on Human Resources Development on the Social Security Review.
We helped organize several community workshops regarding the reforms and
a candlelight vigil for social programmes. We met with all three
federal MPP’s to discuss our views and the presentations were well
received.
o
Lynne Toupin, Executive Director of the National Anti-Poverty
Organization spoke about “Social Programs Under Attack” at our Annual
General Meeting. She also spoke at the Community Forum Luncheon and was
the guest on CJBQ’s “Open Line” programme the same day.
o
Established significant precedent-setting decisions regarding
entitlement to vocational rehabilitation under the Workers’
Compensation Act.
¨
1995
¨
o
Organized a one-day workshop to address the issue of lack of American
Sign Language interpreters in our two counties, and the legal obligation
of service agencies to provide interpretive services.
o
Argued a case before the Social Assistance Review Board challenging the
constitutionality of the Regulations under the General Welfare
Assistance Act pertaining to 16-17 year olds. We worked with
Justice for Youth, a legal clinic specializing in legal advocacy for
children and youth.
o
Met
with all three new local MPP’s to discuss clinic services and offer
training to constituency office staff in workers compensation,
landlord-tenant and other issues.
o
Wrote several articles for the I.A.V.G.O. newsletter, a widely read
legal clinic publication on workers’ compensation issues.
o
Advocated for changes to Hastings County Social Services Department
policy regarding “reasonable efforts to seek employment” requirements.
This advocacy followed several successful appeals on this issue to SARB.
o
Sponsored a seven day course on Systemic Advocacy. This intensive
workshop assisted its seventeen participants to develop a comprehensive
set of strategies and skills to do advocacy work.
o
Made
a deputation to Belleville City Hall regarding the cuts and changes to
social assistance. City Councillors voted unanimously to create a
Mayor’s Task Force to define the crisis, raise awareness, and assess and
mobilize local resources.
o
Developed legal education displays for libraries in Stirling, Trenton,
Madoc, Picton, and Bancroft.
o
Organized several information sessions on the rate cuts and other
proposed changes to social assistance legislation effective October 1,
1995. Developed two special newsletters on these issues.
Special Thanks to the Community
We would not have
been able to accomplish anything without the support of our community
over these past 15 years. We are thankful for the support of many
individuals, groups, organizations, and members of municipal councils,
provincial and federal governments, who have worked with us over the
years.
Thank you for keeping
us true to the mandate envisioned for legal clinics in Ontario, …
assisting clients and people living on a low income through casework
service, community development and law reform.
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This site provides general information only,
specific to Ontario, Canada. It is
NOT legal advice. 
