[All] Fw: DAY OF ACTION ON JULY 30 - Reverse Legal Aid Cuts to CELA

[Lanteigne]

 Sample letter included here to help save CELA's funding. 
Lulu :0) 

   ----- Forwarded Message ----- From: Jacqueline Wilson <jacqueline at cela.ca>To: Undisclosed Recipients <jacqueline at cela.ca>Sent: Monday, July 29, 2019, 01:51:53 p.m. EDTSubject: DAY OF ACTION ON JULY 30 - Reverse Legal Aid Cuts to CELA
 Reminder that tomorrow, Tuesday July 30, is the legal aid day of action. Help us get the word out about the importance of CELA and reversing the funding cuts to our budget. Please see some ideas below about participating in the day of action and let us know if we can do anything to help with any intended actions or messages.
We are approaching our 50th anniversary. Thank you for your support in securing the next 50 years of CELA work on environmental justice.CELA staff

On Tue, Jul 23, 2019 at 12:07 PM Jacqueline Wilson <jacqueline at cela.ca> wrote:

Hi CELA friends and supporters,

As you know, the government of Ontario significantly reduced funding to Legal Aid Ontario in the last budget and, consequently, Legal Aid Ontario has reduced CELA's budget by approximately 30% phased in over two years. 

We are planning to join a province-wide "day of action" to call for the government to reverse the cuts to legal aid, and to clinics specifically, on July 30. These budget cuts endanger access to justice across the province, including for legal aid on environmental issues. This further hampers local citizens from participating in the environmental decisions that matter to their health and environment. 
We need to get out the message about why CELA is important to you or your organization's work. We are hoping you can help us! 

On July 30, it would be extremely helpful if you can call or email any or all of the following people:


1- Contact your MPP. To find our who your MPP is, check here: https://voterinformationservice.elections.on.ca/en/election/search?mode=postalCode. If you need assistance determining who your MPP is, let us know.
2- Contact Attorney General Doug Downey: attorneygeneral at ontario.ca or 705-726-5538
3- Contact the Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks Jeff Yurek: minister.mecp at ontario.ca or 416-314-6790 

If you have written us a testimonial, it would be great if you could send it to your MPP, the Attorney General and the Minister of the Environment. Conservation and Parks on July 30.

If you are looking for some ideas for a message to provide by phone, or to send by email, here is a sample message you can adapt:

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I am writing to ask you to reverse the budget cuts to the Canadian Environmental Law Association, the only legal aid clinic in Ontario focusing on protecting our environment and public health. 

CELA has been advocating for low-income and vulnerable communities across Ontario for 50 years. Communities who lack power or a voice are disproportionately exposed to higher levels of pollution. Low-income people receive poor protection from adverse environmental impacts under our law. CELA provides vital services through representation of individuals and community groups in courts and tribunals, summary advice, public legal education and law reform. Without CELA, communities across the province will suffer worse environmental and health outcomes, and will not be able to access legal help.

I have worked with CELA / CELA has represented me ... (fill in depending on your connection to CELA.) 

Without CELA, I would not have ...

I am calling on you to immediately reverse the cuts to CELA's budget.

(name)
(address)

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Join a local action:

This link provides a list of actions across the province that we encourage you to join (and represent CELA): https://aclco.org/day-of-action/. The Association of Community Legal Clinics of Ontario website will be continuously updated. If you don't see an event close to you, let us know and we can find out what is being organized. 
If you are planning to attend a local event, let us know if we can do anything to assist and send us pictures of the action!
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If you need more information, contact:
Jacqueline Wilson
Counsel
Canadian Environmental Law Association
1500-55 University Ave., Toronto, ON M5J 2H7
T: 416-960-2284 ext. 7213 / Toll-free: 1-844-755-1420
jacqueline at cela.ca
Please forward this message to your networks. As you can imagine, this is a difficult time for CELA and it means the world to us to have your support. 
Thank you, The CELA Staff




  
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