Ottawa, May 9, 2019 – Today, along with its community partners, the Legal Information Centre unveiled its new offices. The Centre is growing in order to meet the ever-growing demand for legal information services in Ontario.
Since its grand opening in 2015, the Centre has served more than 9,000 Ontario residents through free telephone or in-person consultations with its lawyers. With a larger office space and an increase in human resources, the Centre will be able to help more people in a shorter amount of time.
Among the guests at the event were Mr. Marc Smith, treasurer for the AJEFO, and Mr. Paul Le Vay, who was President of the AJEFO when the Centre was created. They reminded those in attendance of the importance of these services in order to improve access to justice. The Honourable Marc Labrosse, Superior Court of Ontario Justice, spoke of the strong support from the staff at the Ottawa Court House who refers many people to the Centre.
Nearly 3,000 people accessed the Centre’s services over the past year.
“We hope that anyone facing legal issues will find support and guidance at the Centre. It is of utmost importance that our services continue to be offered to as many people as possible, without any admissibility criteria and in both official languages”, explained Ms. Alexandra Waite, Acting Executive Director of the AJEFO and of the Centre.
Overview of statistics for 2018-2019:
· 1 out of 4 of individuals served resided outside of Ottawa
· 24.29% were francophone
· 61.16% were anglophone
· 52.29% of individuals served had a yearly income below $30,000
· 82.81% of individuals served did not have a lawyer
“We would like to thank our contributors, our community and government partners and the Department of Justice Canada, as well as the Law Foundation of Ontario for its support in the expansion of the Centre’s services”, stated Ms. Nadia Effendi, President of the AJEFO.
The Centre offers a free 30-minute meeting with a lawyer to anyone facing a legal issue. The lawyer provides legal information and steers Ontarians toward the appropriate local and provincial resources. Information, referral and support services are offered in English and in French, in person or by telephone, on a confidential basis.
The Ottawa Legal Information Centre is an initiative of the Association des juristes d’expression française de l’Ontario (AJEFO). The AJEFO would like to thank the Department of Justice Canada for its financial support by means of the Action Plan for Official Languages – 2018-2023: Investing in Our Future. The AJEFO also acknowledges the financial support of the Law Foundation of Ontario and the Government of Canada through the Department of Canadian Heritage.
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For more information:
Ms. Mathilde Hountchégnon, Communications Manager
Ontario Legal Information Centre |Centre d’information juridique de l’Ontario
613-842-7462 ext. 229 | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
