Open Letter to PCLS Board Re 2015 AGM

Dear Parkdale Community Legal Services (PCLS) Board:

We understand that PCLS will be holding this year’s Annual General Meeting on Wednesday, June 24, 2015 (a copy of the notice to members is available here). We write to raise three concerns regarding the AGM:

1. The AGM structure blocks community-nominated members from joining the board.
2. PCLS is not advising its clients of how to become PCLS members.
3. The AGM should address recent budgetary issues regarding litigation fees and staff turnover.

We explain our concerns in more detail below.

1. The structure you have proposed for the AGM prohibits Parkdale community members from joining the board.

As indicated in the notice, there is only one vacancy on the Board and the Board intends to present a recommended candidate for election. The notice states that this Board-nominated candidate is “to be presented to the members of the Annual General Meeting before any other nominations and is elected by a positive vote for the motion.”

Therefore, not only will the Board’s slate be presented first, but, as the Board stated at last year’s AGM (see one community member’s account of the 2014 AGM here), that member will be elected so long as they receive a single vote.

In other words, there is only one vacancy on the PCLS Board and it will be filled by the Board-nominated candidate. Even though PCLS members are empowered to present their own candidates, the structure you have proposed would mean that by the time a member-nominee is considered at the AGM, the one vacancy on the Board will have already been filled by the Board-nominee.

In both process and result, this proposed system is unfair. Based on the notice, members may invest time and energy into running for the Board and completing the procedural requirements for candidacy. Yet the reality is that no community-nominated member can in fact be elected to the Board. The proposed system wholly blocks community-nominated members from joining the Board.

Importantly, the letter implies that this nomination system is set out “according to the Bylaws of Parkdale Community Legal Services.” Yet there are no provisions in the PCLS Bylaws (available here) for differentiated voting between Board and member nominees.

In fact, we would like to remind the Board that section 19 of the Bylaws provides that the Membership Committee “will develop a recommended slate of candidates for presentation” at the AGM (emphasis added). We do not believe that the “positive vote” system outlined in the Board’s letter reflects the intention of the Bylaws that the Board’s slate be a recommendation (rather than a direction) to voting members in their choice between all nominees.

As a result, there are serious issues with (i) the fact that the Board’s motion occurs before member nominations and (ii) the fact that  Board-nominations require a single vote and member-nominations require elections.

Together, this system prevents community membership in the Board, and thus disregards the intentions and goals of the PCLS Bylaws.This raises a number of serious questions:

1. Who is on the Membership Committee, which the notice states has been tasked with selecting new Board Members? Does this Committee reflect Parkdale’s low-income and racialised demographics? Is this Committee recruiting Board Members who reflect Parkdale’s low-income and racialised demographics?
2. What measures is the Board taking to fulfil section 15 of the PCLS Bylaws, which provides that Board Members “shall reflect the diversity which characterizes the neighbourhoods of Parkdale and Swansea Mews”?
3. When closing files, PCLS students are instructed to note in their closing records whether clients would be a good match for PCLS Board membership. Who is collecting this information, and what is being done with it? Does PCLS invite those clients to join the Board?

2. PCLS is not advising its clients on how to become PCLS members.

We understand that PCLS has not been advising clients — whether new, recurring, or ongoing — of the processes by which they may become members of PCLS. We ask that this be rectified immediately. A yearly notice to existing members is insufficient for ensuring PCLS, in its membership and its operations, reflects the demographics and the needs of the Parkdale neighbourhood.

The apparent failure to recruit new member violates the Bylaws. Section 51 of the PCLS Bylaws provide for the establishment of a Membership and Community Participation Committee, which is meant “to communicate with the residents of the corporation’s service area about the corporation, to recruit members, to serve as a nominating committee for board elections and board committees.”

In light of this disjuncture, we ask:

1. What actions has this Committee taken over the past 12 months to increase community and client membership, and to communicate regularly and transparently with Parkdale residents about changes and activities at PCLS?

3. The proposed AGM would not appear to address critical budgetary issues.

In 2014, the Board hired lawyers from Hansell LLP to represent them in their interactions with community.  Hansell lawyers Brian Calalang, Frédéric Duguay, and Karl Bjurström attended the contested AGM of November 17, 2014.

The last year also also saw significant staff changes at the clinic: we understand that PCLS ended the employment of two full-time staff members in 2014.

These matters raises crucial budgetary issues:

1. How much did it cost to retain Hansell LLP? Out of which budget were the Hansell LLP lawyers paid?
2. Whose decision was it to retain Hansell LLP and why?
3. Is Hansell LLP still retained? If so, for what purpose?
4. Has PCLS ever retained lawyers in the past? If so, for what purpose?
5. How much did ending the contracts of the two staff members cost (including any severance/notice, litigation, or other fees)? Does PCLS intend to replace these positions?  If so, how, when, and with whom?

If an answer to these questions is not possible in advance of the AGM, please confirm that they will be addressed at the AGM itself.

Sincerely,
Concerned Parkdale

GTA Clinics Reject Vision Report’s Three Clinic Model

We are pleased to announce that GTA clinics have rejected the “three clinic” model proposed in the Transformation Project’s Vision Report.

On January 17, 2015, over one hundred staff workers, board members, and community members, representing 13 GTA legal clinics, convened at the “Clinics and Communities Conference,” where they agreed that the proposals provided by the Report  — in particular its proposal to close existing clinics and replace them with three mega service centres — fail to meet the particular needs of the GTA’s diverse clinics and neighbourhoods.

This synopsis provides an overview of the conference’s discussions and potential implications. To see a report-back from KBCLS, click here.

Format

The all-day conference was organized by Kensington Bellwoods Community Legal Services, independently of the Transformation Project and Legal Aid Ontario. Its goal was to explore alternatives to the Vision Report’s current proposals and process. The conference was the first time since the Project started that GTA clinic members (aside from the handful of Steering Committee representatives) have gathered together to discuss their specific needs, challenges, and strengths.

The conference’s first panel featured speakers from four legal clinics (Parkdale, Rexdale, Downsview, and West Scarborough), who outlined the various issues facing their local communities. The speakers highlighted differences and similarities in struggles by low-income communities to access justice across Toronto.

The second panel featured Kathy Laird of the Human Rights Legal Support Centre, Josephine Grey of Low Income Families Together, and Mary Jane Mossman of Osgoode Hall Law School, who presented various critiques of the Report and its process. The speakers canvassed the need for pilot projects, such as community hubs, clinic clustering, and resource sharing across catchment borders. They also emphasised the need for provincial policy change and increased clinic funding.

Discussion

The conference provided clinics with a chance to identify and discuss many of the concerns and much of the confusion raised by the Vision Report.

For instance, attendees spoke of a lack of clarity regarding the “endorsement” process. Jack De Klerk (ED of Neighbourhood Legal Services), responded, as Project Co-Chair, that clinics will no longer be expected to formally vote in February. Rather, any future endorsement process will serve as a mechanism for feedback, and not a step towards implementation. This did not fully quell people’s confusion.

Audience members also raised procedural and administrative concerns about the GTA Transformation Project process, including the undisclosed amount of Transformation-related funding that has been allocated to Flemingdon Community Legal Services. Flemingdon’s ED, Marjorie Hiley, is one of the two Project Co-Chairs. Approximately $200,000 to $300,000 of this fund remains unspent.

Audience members noted that the Project needs to — but has thus far failed to — respond to the particularities of Toronto’s different clinics and neighbourhoods. The audience highlighted the inadequacies of the Project’s “one size fits all” approach to the provision of legal aid services.

Next Steps

In considering ways to move forward, it was heartening to hear clinic members state their desire to work more closely with neighbouring clinics. Many staff members acknowledged the need for united advocacy for a fairer social assistance program, in order to systematically address the immense ODSP caseload overwhelming clinics.

Attendees also suggested that the Project may benefit from a reorganization of the Working Group and Steering Group Committees’ structures and decision-making processes. Community groups called for increased community and partner representation at the management level of the Project, while many clinics (including Parkdale) acknowledged a need for more widespread community consultation. Others called for more structural change, suggesting an alternative process of oversight which would be community-driven.

Surprisingly, there was little mention of the increased funding to legal clinics recently announced by the Ministry of the Attorney General and Legal Aid Ontario, which apparently includes funding for 70+ new clinic positions.

As the conference was not a Project-organised event, the meeting did not conclude with any official undertaking by Project members about their next steps. Nonetheless, it was understood that the next Project Steering Committee meeting on February 25, 2015 will address the comments and issues raised at the conference, including the collective rejection of the Vision Report’s proposal to close clinics.

We at Concerned Parkdale are delighted that clinics have clearly shown their strength in numbers and collective action. We look forward to seeing clinics negotiate with the province and LAO for increased, reliable, and sustainable funding to ensure access to justice for all Ontarians. We note that this is a call that has been made of clinics for months now by clinic users, clinic workers, the media, ourselves, KBCLS, Keep Neighbourhood Legal Clinics, Stop Clinic Mergers, the Law Union of Ontario, law professors, and hundreds of Canadians. As of this conference, it seems those calls are finally being heeded, and we are excited to see the outcome.

Open Letter to PCLS re Vision Report Vote

Dear Parkdale Community Legal Services (PCLS) Board:

We understand the PCLS Board has until February 2015 to vote on the GTA Legal Clinics Transformation Project’s Vision Report, which proposes closing Toronto’s existing legal clinics and replacing them with 3 mega centres (page 28).

We write to update you about community calls to reject the Report.

As you know, Ontario’s community legal clinic system is unique in Canada, representing over forty years of reflection, relationship building, and dedication to access to justice. PCLS has been at the forefront of this work, such that clinic users, PCLS members, Parkdale residents, PCLS staff, PCLS students, and supporters are now raising their voices to protect Toronto’s clinics from the threat of closures.

In particular, in October 2014, we delivered to you 45 support letters from Parkdale residents. As well, 250 people have signed an online petition asking you to reject the Report. We encourage you to read the supporters’ comments. Several comments detail the importance of localized clinics like PCLS, including:

I have seen first hand the good work a legal clinic can do. Losing a community legal clinic will force many people to travel far from their homes to access services from people who will not retain the same institutional and personal knowledge of the clinics and staff they are replacing, and many who may not be able to even afford the cost of transit or have mobility issues will simply not be able to access the new MegaClinic’s services, leaving them without any assistance whatsoever. This will further increase the gentrification of the neighbourhood I live in, as mammoth corporations like Metcap and Akelius use unscrupulous and illegal tactics to clear out long-term low income tenants.

Petitioners include clinic users, who describe why the Report fails them:

I have used Parkdale Legal, and their services really helped me. I would not have felt comfortable going to a megaclinic. It was nice going to a place that I knew helped people like me, that knew the Parkdale community.

And, simply:

PCLS saves lives!!!

These messages clearly show the importance of community legal clinics in the lives of so many in Parkdale, at Osgoode Hall, and across Ontario. Yet, to date, we have not received a response to these letters. We request confirmation that you are meaningfully considering this and other community input in your deliberations.

PCLS and the clinic system are not perfect. In 1971, PCLS led the way by innovating legal service provision for marginalized communities, and it should continue to do so. Efforts to improve clinics should be led by user needs. This requires comprehensive consultation with clinic users, clinic staff, and community partners. This also requires collecting and examining empirical evidence about the advantages and disadvantages of various clinic models.

Yet the Vision Report demonstrates little evidence, consultation, or innovation. The Report conducts no serious assessment of recent GTA legal clinic mergers, such as those that created Hamilton Community Legal Clinic or Unison Health Community Services.

The Report also leaves a number of issues dangerously unexplored, including:

1. Where will the access points be and who will be facilitating the services?
2. What evidence is there to suggest that efficiencies can be obtained through mergers?
3. What alternatives to mergers exist?
4. What might we lose by merging? What are the advantages to a localized, community-based model

In short, the Report is neither cutting-edge nor sound; it should be rejected accordingly.

We understand that PCLS’s Executive Director, Ms. Nancy Henderson, has resigned from the Transformation Project Working Group. Why did she leave? Can we interpret Ms. Henderson’s departure as demonstrating that PCLS is withdrawing support for the Report?

If not, we would remind you that, as one of the most active clinics in this city, arguably even this country, a decision to endorse clinic closures (even and especially if PCLS itself is somehow saved) would have severe repercussions across the province. The Report, with its preoccupation with “efficiencies”, was introduced under the threat of funding cuts. Yet both the Ministry of the Attorney General and Legal Aid Ontario have announced increased funding for legal aid. There is no reason to rush into a move that could devastate access to justice throughout Ontario.

Poverty transcends borders. It forces the dislocation of marginalized people. Thus, while the mandate of the Board binds you to the PCLS community (including PCLS users who live outside Parkdale), the scope of your deliberations should not exclude people living in poverty elsewhere in the GTA; the effect of your decision will certainly not be so isolated.

Parkdale is not an island in Toronto, nor does PCLS stand alone in the clinic system. We urge you to join Kensington Bellwoods Community Legal Services and West Toronto Community Legal Services, who have already voted against the Report.

In the alternative, if you are not comfortable voting against the Report at this time, the Board should defer the vote until  at least February 2016 to ensure you can conduct adequate consultation with the Parkdale community.

Thank you very much for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,
Concerned Parkdale

Concerned Parkdale Welcomes New Board Members

PCLS had its Annual General Meeting (AGM) on November 17, 2014. This is our reportback from that meeting.

At the meeting, PCLS members elected the following four member-nominated candidates to the PCLS Board:

1. beth long
2. Gita Madan
3. Joanna Mullen
4. Diane Rajaram

Meanwhile, the PCLS Board (effectively) appointed the following three Board-nominated candidates to the PCLS Board:

1. Noah Aiken-Klar
2. David Gellman
3. Mercedes Perez

Background

As we previously reported, PCLS initially sought to hold an Annual General Meeting (AGM) on October 29, 2014. However, PCLS members noted there was a lack of proper notice for this October meeting. Those members who were able to attend the Oct 29 meeting moved to add four member-nominated candidates to the Board. The meeting concluded with the PCLS Board announcing it was re-scheduling the AGM to November 17, 2014.

Official notice was sent out for the November meeting. Concerned Parkdale also flyered in the area to encourage a mix of people to attend. There was a turn-out of approximately 80 people.

The November AGM did not feel community-oriented. For instance, breaking with PCLS tradition, there was neither food nor translators at the event. This posed a barrier to low-income and non-English speaking members, who comprise the vast majority of PCLS users.

The meeting also opened with a lengthy warning from the Board to be civil or they would conclude the meeting. Given the Board’s dismissive response to PCLS members’ concerns during the last meeting, it seemed that the Board wanted to encourage a chilling effect on the night’s conversations.

This impression was furthered by the fact that the PCLS Board was joined by lawyers whom the PCLS Clinic Director, Nancy Henderson, had retained. At the PCLS Board presenters’ table sat Desiree Warner (Board Chair), Andrea Margles (Board member), and two lawyers from a downtown corporate law firm, Hansell LLP: Brian Calalang and Frédéric Duguay. A third Hansell lawyer attended the AGM, but did not sit at the presenters table: Karl Bjurström.  PCLS members were informed that the Hansell LLP would be providing the Board with advice throughout the night on corporate law and interpretation of the PCLS Bylaws.

Election of New PCLS Board

After the approval of the 2013 AGM minutes and financial statements, Desiree Warner opened the election of the seven open seats on the Board.

PCLS members were given two separate voting cards:

1. the first contained the names of three Board-approved candidates; and
2. the second contained the names of six member-nominated candidates.

(We note that in October, the three people the Board nominated to the Board were Noah Aiken-Klar, Namgyal Dolker, Mercedes Perez. By November, that list had changed to Noah Aiken-Klar, David Gellman, and Mercedes Perez.)

Members were instructed to first vote on the Board-approved nominees. Desiree Warner stated that each Board-approved candidate needed only one vote to be successfully elected.

A long discussion ensued between members and Desiree Warner about election structure and procedure. As Chair, Desiree Warner pronounced all member motions out of order.

The lawyers from Hansell were then invited to speak by Desiree Warner.  The Hansell lawyers asserted that the Chair was correct in stating that:

• only one vote was required to successfully elect a Board member;
• voting was on a ‘yes’ or ‘abstain’ basis (i.e. no ‘no’ option); and
• the Board-approved candidates were to be voted in first, followed by the member-nominated candidates.

The Hansell lawyers relied on the voting provisions in the PCLS Bylaws and election procedure under Ontario’s Corporations Act.  Many members disagreed with the Hansell lawyers’ interpretation.

Despite opposition from PCLS members, the Board ‘elected’ in all three of its nominees, namely:

1. Noah Aiken-Klar
2. David Gellman; and
3. Mercedes Perez.

This left only four seats on the Board for the six member-nominated candidates, namely: beth long, Gita Madan, Joanna Mullen, Dave Nisker,  Diane Rajaram,  and Oriel Varga.

All six candidates spoke. It was a tough choice for all, but the following four member-nominated candidates were successfully elected to the Board:

1. beth long
2. Gita Madan
3. Joanna Mullen
4. Diane Rajaram

Going Forward

The Board’s insistence on using a sequential voting process (i.e. first the Board-approved candidates, followed by the member-nominated candidates) is very concerning, because it demonstrates a refusal by the Board to meaningfully listen to, engage with, or remain accountable to PCLS members and users.

Despite those structural challenges, PCLS members were able to ensure that several excellent PCLS community members and supporters were able to join the Board. And so, Concerned Parkdale is excited about these new Board members. We are hopeful that this new Board will spark new collaborations and positive changes.

Moreover, the new Board has until February 2015 to decide whether or not to endorse the GTA Legal Clinic’s Transformation Project Vision Report.  We look forward to working with the Board over the coming months to ensure strong community involvement in the process.  We wish all the new Board members the best during their 2-year tenure as PCLS Directors.

Concerned Parkdale Endorses PCLS Member-Nominated Directors

In the lead up to tomorrow’s AGM, Concerned Parkdale is thrilled to endorse the following 6 people to run for positions on the PCLS Board of Directors (in alphabetical order):

1. beth long
2. Dave Nisker
3. Diane Rajaram
4. Gita Madan
5. Joanna Mullen
6. Oriel Varga

Here are their bios!

beth long

• beth long is a resident of Parkdale who moved from Vancouver to article at PCLS in 2000-2001. She spent the next seven years in the community legal clinic system, working as a staff lawyer in four separate clinics (Mississauga, Bracebridge, Neighbourhood Legal and West Toronto). Currently, she is a research lawyer at the Human Rights Legal Support Centre, where she has worked since 2008. Informed and motivated in large part by her own lived-experience, beth’s past efforts as an activist have focused on campaigns to reduce the harms associated with sexual violence, poverty, addiction, homelessness, sex trade work, mental illness, policing and transphobia, among others. beth is passionate about the legal clinic system in Ontario, and she is committed to preserving and enhancing community-based access to legal services for the residents of Parkdale and Swansea who live in poverty. She strongly believes that PCLS’s position on the GTA Transformation proposal must originate in and be shaped as much as possible by the people who actually need and use its services. To that end, as a member of the PCLS Board, beth would work hard to create opportunities for the meaningful participation of community members in decisions concerning the delivery of clinic law services.

Dave Nisker

• David Nisker is a 3rd year law student and recent graduate of the Parkdale Community Legal Services student intensive program in the Housing Division. He also worked at the clinic following his placement until early September, 2014. He currently resides in the clinic’s catchment area, and has partaken in many community initiatives surrounding the tenant rights. He also organizes with the Network for the Elimination of Police Violence and the Stop Racial Profiling committee of the Law Union. David recognizes that despite recent turmoil inside of PCLS, and with plans to close clinics, that we all believe that PCLS is a very important place for the residents of Parkdale. He believes that it is important to strengthen community legal clinics across the city and province by building on 40+ years of achievements and lessens. As a prospective Board member, David is interested in improving the student, staff, and client experiences at PCLS as well as the clinic’s overall efficacy. His business background and his valued current relationships and experiences at the clinic give him a great balance and perspective for serving on the Board of Directors.

Diane Rajaram

• TBA

Gita Madan

• Gita Madan is both a resident of and an employee in the Parkdale community. She is running for the Board of Directors because she believes that she is very well positioned to represent the interests of community members, particularly low-income residents who rely on the services of PCLS. Gita is a high school teacher, with a specialization in the area of Urban Education. She is currently a graduate student at the University of Toronto (OISE), where she studies the impacts of changes in school disciplinary policy on the most marginalized students in our education system. Gita is also very involved in the community and active in a number of local organizations and grassroots initiatives. This includes working as a food literacy educator at FoodShare, serving on the organizing collective of the Toronto Time Bank, and as a member of CLAY, a collective of legal-minded individuals who use popular education to engage the public in legal education.

Joanna Mullen

• I have resided in Parkdale since 2012. I articled at Parkdale Community Legal Services from 2012-2013. I now work as a staff lawyer at Unison Health and Community Services, an organization that serves the community in the former city of York. As a resident of Parkdale, I am aware of the changes within the community due to gentrification. deportation, and poverty. I am concerned about how these changes are impacting the clients of PCLS. I hope that as a Board Member I can listen to the concerns of Parkdale residents and the staff at PCLS to ensure that the clinic continues to work to achieve justice and equality for all.

Oriel Varga

• As a Board member, I bring with me a wealth of experience. I have an extensive background in organizing campaigns and creating grassroots projects. As a student in Workers’ Rights Division at PCLS, I worked closely with the Parkdale community and the Workers’ Action Centre. Today, I continue to work on issues impacting Parkdale. Most recently, I have been organizing to oppose the GTA Transformation Proposal. This plan threatens to close 13-14 community clinics for three mega-centres. As a PCLS board member, I will work hard to ensure PCLS (and 13 other clinics) remains open. I aim to bridge the gap between the board and staff and make sure the PCLS board listens to the Parkdale community. I will ensure PCLS is a leading edge legal clinic with a philosophy of community-based lawyering, rooted in the Parkdale community, for the next 40 years!

We note that, pursuant to PCLS Bylaws, all six PCLS members above were nominated by two PCLS members each before 5PM on Thurs, Nov 13. Each nominee received confirmation from PCLS of the timely submission of their nomination packages (both the nominations and the consents to the nominations).

We look forward to voting in these six incredible community members and advocates at the AGM tomorrow (7PM, Mon, Nov 17 at Bonar-Parkdale Presbyterian Church)!

We also note that, according to the notice that some PCLS members received from the current PCLS Board, the three Board-nominated nominees are:

1. David Gellman
2. Mercedes Perez
3. Noah Aiken-Klar

Note that the above list no longer includes Namgyal Dolker, whom the Board nominated on Oct 29; David Gellman appears to have been now nominated by the Board in Namgyal’s stead.

If you are a PCLS member who has not yet received your notice of the AGM, please contact Robert Routh at PCLS: 416-531-2411 x 224 / routhr@lao.on.ca.

Reminder: AGM on Mon, Nov 17 at Bonar-Parkdale Church

Update: You can download here a copy of the notice that PCLS members began receiving today about next Monday’s AGM.

PCLS will be having its AGM on Monday, Nov 17 at 7PM at  Bonar-Parkdale Presbyterian Church.

If you aren’t already a member, make sure you submit your membership application by Tues, Nov 11 if you want to vote at the AGM. Encourage your friends and neighbours to become PCLS members too!

If you don’t know if you’re a member or not or if you’ve not yet received notice from PCLS about the AGM, contact Robert Routh at PCLS: 416-531-2411 x 224 / routhr@lao.on.ca

On Monday, we will confirm the election of the following member-nominated Directors:

1. Diane Rajaram
2. Joanna Mullen
3. Dave Nisker
4. Oriel Varga

We will also confirm the election of the following Board-nominated Directors:

1. Noah Aiken-Klar
2. Namgyal Dolker
3. Mercedes Perez

Right now, this is the PCLS Board:

1. Andrea Margles: amargles@krmc-law.com
2. Amar Bhatia: abhatia@osgoode.yorku.ca
3. David Gellman: David@davidgellman.com
4. Desiree Warner: desmwarner@gmail.com
5. Faisal Bhabha: fbhabha@osgoode.yorku.ca
6. Jen Danch: jen.danch@gmail.com
7. Mercedes Perez: mperez@swadron.com
8. Noah Aiken-Klar: naikenklar@otf.ca
9. Richard Haigh: rhaigh@osgoode.yorku.ca
10. Shelley Gavigan: gavigan@osgoode.yorku.ca
11. Two PCLS staff – non-voting
12. One Osgoode/PCLS student – non-voting

We were glad to learn on Friday that the PCLS Board has postponed its vote on the Transformation Project from late 2014 until February 2015 (exact date and process to be announced by PCLS). This is a great win! We look forward to continuing the dialogue about how to ensure clinic users and community members guide conversations about the provision of legal aid services. Only your presence and contributions can ensure we have meaningful community consultation.

See you Monday!

PCLS Board Will Not Vote on Transformation Project until February 2015

Update: You can download here a copy of the notice confirming the new date for the Transformation vote.

Great news! The PCLS Board has announced that it will be postponing its decision on the GTA Transformation’s Vision Report (i.e. whether or not to close 16 Toronto community legal clinics and replace them with 3 mega centres) until February 2015!

We look forward to working with the PCLS Board in the intervening months to ensure that the perspectives of clinic users and community members guide conversations about how their legal aid clinics should provide legal aid services. This adjournment represents an opportunity to hold meaningful, accessible, and transparent consultations with community members about the how legal aid clinics can best serve users.

Stay tuned for updates on how this postponement is affecting other GTA clinics!

PCLS Members “Take Back” Their Legal Clinic

Last week, Parkdale Community Legal Services (PCLS) attempted to hold its Annual General Meeting (AGM), which it had adjourned from June 2014. This is our reportback from that meeting on Wednesday, Oct 29.

The meeting concluded with PCLS agreeing to the following:

• The PCLS Board will resume its AGM on Monday, Nov 17 at 7PM at a location that it will announce.
• The PCLS Board will provide proper and timely notice for the Nov 17 meeting to PCLS members.
• The PCLS Board will accept for candidacy those board nominations that PCLS had initially declined to consider.
• The PCLS Board will accept for candidacy new board nominations for up to two business days before Nov 17.
• The PCLS Board will register any new membership applications it has not yet registered.
• The PCLS Board of Directors will not meet prior to this meeting on Nov 17.

Meanwhile, at this same meeting, PCLS members elected these seven people to the Board:

1. Noah Aiken-Klar
2. Diane Rajaram
3. Namgyal Dolker
4. Joanna Mullen
5. Dave Nisker
6. Mercedes Perez
7. Oriel Varga

Background

The PCLS Board first held its AGM in June 2014. It sought to resume this AGM on Oct 29. However, the PCLS Board did not fully inform its membership of this new date. Word nonetheless spread about the meeting; approximately 35 PCLS members attended the meeting on Oct 29.

As soon as the meeting commenced, the membership questioned the PCLS board about the lack of notice. Despite these inquiries, the Board officially commenced the meeting.

After approving financial statements, the PCLS Board moved to deal with other AGM business.

Several members then duly moved and seconded a motion to elect the following individuals for to the PCLS Board:

1. Diane Rajaram
2. Joanna Mullen
3. Dave Nisker
4. Oriel Varga

Some of these nominees are known to be against the GTA Transformation Project’s Vision Report, which is the proposal that would close 13-14 legal clinics in the GTA and replace them with 3 mega-service centres.

As per the PCLS Bylaws, nomination applications for all four nominations had been submitted to the Board at least two days before Wed, Oct 29.

However, the PCLS Board ruled the nominations by the members “out of order.” The PCLS Board claimed that the nominations should have been submitted two days before the July meeting, not the October meeting.

Meanwhile, the Board sought to elect the following nominees, whom the Board had gathered itself, through its internal membership committee:

1. Noah Aiken-Klar
2. Namgyal Dolker
3. Mercedes Perez

The members declined to vote-in these nominees, at which point the Board moved to adjourn the meeting. The members voted against the motion to adjourn the meeting, but the Board said the meeting was over. The Board left the room.

The PCLS members resumed the meeting with their own chair. The members proceeded with the Board elections. Halfway through the elections, the PCLS Board returned to announce that it would hold an election meeting on Monday, November 17th and that it would give due notice to all members.

The members in attendance requested ten minutes to finish the ongoing elections. The Board reiterated that the meeting was over and that the membership was no longer welcome in the clinic.

In response, one member said, “PCLS belongs to Parkdale, this is our clinic, we are not leaving, we are taking back our clinic.”

After continued pressure from the Board to leave the clinic, the membership finished their  elections outside, with quorum still present. In total, the following people were elected to the PCLS Board:

1. Noah Aiken-Klar
2. Diane Rajaram
3. Namgyal Dolker
4. Joanna Mullen
5. Dave Nisker
6. Mercedes Perez
7. Oriel Varga

We thank everyone for for supporting and attending this meeting. The meeting was a powerful and empowering example of communities and supporters coming together and asserting their collective power in the face of troubling suppression by the Board.

We look forward to continuing to work together to ensure the PCLS Board acknowledges and protects the right of clinic users and community members to decide how they should access their services, including legal clinics and legal aid.

Stay tuned for more updates about upcoming meetings!

Questions? Email as at concernedparkdale@gmail.com.