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Furor erupts over Legal Aid office

Mike W. Bryant
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Oct 20/04) - MLAs questioning a cabinet decision to house a family legal aid clinic in Centre Square Mall hammered away at Public Works Minister Floyd Roland for a second straight day Monday.

Kam Lake MLA Dave Ramsay said store owners in the mall are not happy about the deal. He also wondered if it was wise to move a family law clinic -- a government-funded office for clients who can't afford lawyers -- into what is normally expensive real estate.

"I'm wondering if the government has taken any consideration in the fact that it's harming the small businesses that are located in that mall," said Ramsay.

Range Lake MLA Sandy Lee got in on the act, demanding to know why the government chose to sole-source a five-year lease -- with options for up to 15 years -- to the mall when they were late tendering their bid.

Three tenders were received late last summer, but the government pursued the mall space after the other two were deemed unacceptable. The price of the actual lease has yet to be disclosed, but Lee said renovations will cost $110,000 alone.

She said the government had other options available to them, including the old Overlander storefront and Panda II Mall. She predicted having the family law clinic in Centre Square Mall will shave off precious dollars for lawyers out of Legal Aid's $4 million budget.

"I can't understand why we can spend all this money to sit here at Centre Square Mall, but will only be able to pay for two hours of Legal Aid," said Lee.

Roland defended the government's decision to lease the space, saying their options were limited. He said the Centre Square Mall proposal was the only one that was suitable.

"We wouldn't do this whimsically," said Roland.

"It's not like we woke up and said, 'this is a good day to sole-source.'"

Mall manager Jennifer Marchant said concerns about the law clinic are unfounded. It will replace a Worker's Compensation Board medical office on the ground floor, next door to the Centre Square tower elevators.

She said it's due to open in late November or early December.

"People are getting upset because they don't know what it is," said Marchant.

"This is consistent with the principles the landlord wants to see, and fits with the rest of the tenancy that we've got in the office tower."

Yellowknife Centre MLA Robert Hawkins, who has been pushing the government to create a separate office for family law outside of Legal Aid, said he doesn't understand why Ramsay and Lee are giving the government such a hard time.

"It was an absolute struggle to get Legal Aid up, now it seems like they want to tear it down," said Hawkins.

"I'm comfortable with (the government's) decision."