In 2017, we joined a charter challenge alongside individual litigants challenging the Province of BC and Legal Aid BC, arguing that a lack of access to legal aid discriminates against women and children in poverty who are fleeing violent relationships. Under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, we asserted that BC was not upholding its constitutional duty to provide adequate access to justice for vulnerable women fleeing abuse. A lack of legal aid increases their vulnerability to further violence and stress.
Since we were founded in 2014, we’ve listened to the struggles of women facing violence, poverty, and inadequate legal support, and we remain committed to protecting their rights. In February 2024, the Province announced a comprehensive collaborative agreement between Centre for Family Equity, the Ministry of the Attorney General, and Legal Aid BC, which marked the end of the case and the beginning of foundational system transformation in family law legal aid in BC.For more information about how the collaborative agreement impacts those in need of legal aid, please see this helpful guide developed by Rise Women's Legal Centre and the Centre for Family Equity.
Background
After seven years of determination and hard work with the legal team led by West Coast LEAF, the charter challenge on access to legal aid for lone mothers escaping domestic violence was concluded.
in February 2024, Centre for Family Equity, the Ministry of the Attorney General, and Legal Aid BC announced a multidisciplinary intensive family law clinic model for people experiencing family violence and a suite of changes to the legal aid services in BC. The government is investing $29.1 million over the next three years to support LABC in implementing these changes.
The new clinic model aims to provide better access for parents who have faced financial and other barriers to obtaining legal services. This announcement will replace a one-size-fits-all formula for family legal aid with a robust, multidimensional, and sustained services model. The Centre for Family Equity and the legal team worked to establish new policies that protect lone mothers' assets, expand income criteria for more services, and provide trauma-informed programs. This will have a profound impact on vulnerable people.
The solutions offered by this exciting new tier of services will make the family law legal aid system more responsive to on-the-ground realities of survivors and better able to meet their complex legal needs.
This historic agreement was the result of a collaborative process between the Province of BC and the Centre for Family Equity supported by the dedication of our legal team. It would not have been possible without the passion and commitment of so many of our devoted members.
Many women and parents who founded our organization shared their stories of the lived reality of poverty, intimate partner violence, and lack of access to justice in family law to impact this work. Better access to legal representation saves lives. This initiative will have a profound and positive impact on the most vulnerable low-income mothers, women, parents, and children who experience family violence in this province.
Read our backgrounder about the terms of this agreement here.
Our Case
A constitutional challenge against the Province of BC and Legal Aid BC.
Our constitutional challenge alleged that BC has a constitutional responsibility under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms to ensure access to the justice system for women in poverty who are fleeing violent relationships.
I could not sustain the $400 per hour of legal bills so he won the financial battle. The children and I will be impacted by the family debt for the remainder of their childhood.
– single mother who participated in our 2023 Listening and Demographic Campaign
We have been listening to women fleeing violence since we founded in 2014.
Many of our members have experienced intimate partner violence and high-conflict relationship breakdown. And poverty and hardship after they flee dangerous situations. We have heard much about their journeys trying to access family law while living far below the poverty line with limited legal aid available.
Since we held our first listening campaign in 2014, the lack of affordable and adequate access to our family law system in BC has been brought forward to us as a primary issue causing hardship and risk with negative long-term impacts for many lone mother-led families in BC.
And we won’t back down from protecting the rights of parents impacted by gender-based violence
The system is not geared to support traumatized women who have been abused... it is very fear and trauma-inducing and intimidating; it is not a safe place.
– Lone mother who participated in our 2023 Listening and Demographic Campaign
Some Case History
The Province and the Legal Services Society (LSS) made applications to the court arguing that the case should not move ahead in whole (Province) or in part (LSS). On August 23, 2019, the court ruled that the case can go ahead as intended. Please click here to access the full ruling.
A recent standing challenge against the Single Mothers’ Alliance was rejected by the Supreme Court in late 2022. We were granted public interest standing and our constitutional challenge of the Province’s family law regime is allowed to proceed as of the ruling issued in August 2022. Please the full ruling here.
Case Documents
- Response of the Province of British Columbia
- Response of the Legal Services Society
- The Province of BC’s Motion to Strike
- Legal Services Society’s Application to Strike
- Response to the Province of BC’s Application to Strike
- Response to Legal Services Society’s Application to Strike
- BC Supreme Court ruling on Application to Strike
- BC Supreme Court ruling on Standing Challenge Application
Media Releases
- Legal aid case must proceed despite the government’s attempt to stop it
- Advocacy group: Government is wrong to stand in the way of legal aid challenge
- They didn’t stop us: Legal aid constitutional challenge going full steam ahead
- A huge win for single mothers fleeing violence
- Rights group in court to defend right of Single Mothers’ Alliance to challenge BC’s family law legal aid regime
Our History of Legal Action
Within a year of founding in 2014, we launched our first legal challenge regarding the B.C. Government’s policy of clawing back child support payments from those accessing disability and income assistance. The ‘claw back’ was a policy that deepened poverty every day for the poorest children in the province in lone parent led families on income and disability assistance. We were addressing children’s right to benefit from the income of both parents and arguing the claw back violated their charter rights.
Thanks in part to the pressure brought from our lawsuit and collaborative advocacy with many allies, the clawback policy was rescinded in September 2015. Now, all lone parents accessing income and disability assistance in BC no longer have their child support payments clawed back dollar for dollar from their monthly incomes and BC’s poorest children now benefit from crucial child support. We dropped the charter challenge lawsuit when the harmful policy was ended.