SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - A man who says he was denied legal aid for what he considers personal reasons is distraught and fears he'll lose weekly visits with his two sons.

The 31-year-old's troubles began two years ago when his baby son suffered a seizure. The baby was rushed to Stanton Territorial Hospital and later medevaced to Edmonton. The man was charged with aggravated assault and has pleaded not guilty in connection to the Oct. 22, 2007 incident. His Supreme Court trial began earlier this fall and will resume Feb. 8, 2010.

The father of two insists the injury was an accident, caused when he tripped and fell while carrying his youngest child.

After the charges were laid, the man's other son, now four, was taken into custody by child protective services. His wife, who was working out of town at the time, had to petition to regain custody of her two sons when she returned.

The woman has since had the four-year-old returned to her, but the couple's youngest is still in foster care. She was told to separate from her husband. Health and Social Services advised the woman she had to put the children's needs and safety first or risk losing custody permanently.

After many court appearances, the man was granted hour-and-a-half supervised visits with his two sons.

The man said he's filmed the visits in order to document his parenting skills so the videos can be submitted as evidence in his custody hearing in March.

He requested legal assistance after a meeting with the director of social programs, who he said told him the visits wouldn't continue unless he agreed not to tape them, and advised the man to consult with a lawyer.

The man said he has a legal aid lawyer for the criminal proceedings and initially, he qualified for legal aid for his custody hearing in September. However, he said he was turned down in October. Last week he contacted legal aid again and said he was turned down once more. The man, who has no criminal record, said he feels like he's been blacklisted by the legal community.

"Apparently I ask too much of my lawyer ... I'm hard to work with and no one wants to take my case," he said.

Working as a security guard for $13 an hour, he said he couldn't have been turned down for financial reasons.

Lucy Austin, executive director of legal aid, said people can be denied legal aid for financial reasons and if the proceedings are not covered by the legal aid program. She refused to comment on why someone could be denied for other reasons.

Austin said people can appeal a decision to the Legal Services Board.

In a Supreme Court case in New Brunswick in 1999, the court made a landmark ruling that it was a Charter right for people to receive state-funded legal representation for state-initiated proceedings.

The decision came out of a petition by a woman who was seeking legal aid for a child custody hearing.

The Yellowknife father seeking legal assistance thinks the NWT should have a children's advocate or a legal ombudsman to deal with complaints against the government.

A comprehensive review of the Child and Family Services Act is now underway in the NWT. One of the concerns MLAs raised was what happens when a parent is accused of abuse.

As to how the Yellowknife father will proceed, he doesn't know. He isn't optimistic an appeal would be successful.

"I've lost my wife. I haven't slept next to my wife in a year and a half; they're trying to take away my kids," he said, wiping away tears. "I was judged guilty at the very start."