The 10-year plan aims to meet 17 goals by 2030 to foster equity for racialized individuals
On the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, Legal Aid Ontario (LAO) has issued a report showing the advancements in its racialized communities strategy (RCS) action plan.
Initiated in 2020, the comprehensive 10-year plan is dedicated to fulfilling 17 specific goals by 2030 to foster equity within the justice system for racialized individuals.
David Field, the president & CEO of LAO, emphasized the organization's commitment to equity and the importance of continually engaging with and understanding the unique challenges faced by racialized clients to develop effective and supportive services. “In the four years since LAO released the RCS action plan, the global context has changed. The COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on racialized communities underscore that much work needs to be done. This progress report looks at the work LAO has carried out thus far to remove barriers to accessing services and to support access to justice for racialized clients,” Field said.
The progress report highlighted several initiatives LAO undertook to address systemic barriers and improve access to justice for racialized communities. These initiatives include:
- Allocating funds to support the impact of race and culture assessment reports.
- Providing special funding to the Black Legal Action Centre in response to the heightened demand for services following George Floyd's murder.
- Extending special funding to the Chinese & Southeast Asian Legal Clinic amid rising anti-Asian racism during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Conducting research on the influence of race and Indigeneity in bail proceedings and case outcomes.
- Implementing race-based data collection and demographic information gathering from clients to enhance service delivery and develop necessary programs for racialized groups.
LAO's strategy aims not only to eliminate barriers to accessing its services but also to ensure the quality of the legal services provided to racialized people and to confront both individual and systemic racism within the justice system.
The report also outlined suggestions for further improvement, including enhancing the promotion of LAO's services, adjusting financial assessments to consider the specific needs of migrant workers and urban living costs, facilitating the search for legal representation, striving for more racial diversity among LAO's staff and leadership, and reinforcing anti-oppression and anti-racism training to elevate service quality for racialized clients.
“While progress has been made in the last four years with various initiatives, LAO is aware that equity in the justice system can only be met by continuing to listen to our racialized clients, understanding their needs, and developing services that help to address the barriers they face,” Field concluded.
