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October / November 2008

Public forum on access to justice

The Honourable Beverley McLachlin, chief justice of the Supreme Court of Canada, will be the keynote speaker at a Law Society of BC public forum in January 2009, put on in partnership with the Legal Services Society, SUCCESS, the Western Canada Society to Access Justice, and the CBC. read more>>

Justice Access Centre opens in Nanaimo

On October 30, 2008, a Justice Access Centre opened in Nanaimo. Building on the success of the former Nanaimo Family Justice Services Centre, the expanded centre now offers both family and civil law services. read more>>

Aboriginal child protection fact sheet series

We’ve recently created a new fact sheet series that describes several aspects of the child protection process as it relates to Aboriginal people in BC. read more>>

Enhanced legal aid phone services — five months later

Further to our July 2008 article about telephone triage, LSS is happy to report that the project has resulted in dramatic improvements in wait times and abandoned calls for the LSS Call Centre and LawLINE since October. read more>>

LSS to screen legal aid applications for Mexican nationals applying for help with PIF preparation

We have recently seen a remarkable increase in refugee applicants from Mexico, but the Immigration and Refugee Board is accepting fewer claims from Mexican nationals. Therefore, LSS will start merit screening claims from Mexican nationals. read more>>

My client hasn’t been getting his GST refunds lately. The federal government said he owed child support — and they are keeping his GST refund and sending it to his ex. That doesn’t seem fair because his income has recently gone down a lot. Are they allowed to do this?
Answer here and find out more.

Check out two new FAQs (one about collaborative family law and one about putting the other parent's name on a birth certificate) and one new fact sheet on staying out of court on the Family Law in BC website.