A Letter to the Editor of The Toronto Star

Sir/Madam,

Your article, ‘Legal aid boycott hits native communities’, highlights the disproportionate danger of poor public investment on already marginalised groups. As a society we allegedly value the presumption of innocence and right to a fair trial, however, in practice we put more money into prosecuting people than defending them. This hardly seems fair.

The courts, both civil and criminal, are a public service and must be equally accessible for all the people of Ontario for them to serve their purpose of dispensing justice and enforcing the laws of the land. Attorney General Chris Bentley should be ashamed of the perversion of fairness in compensation for legal aid certificates and the resultant perversion of justice in our courts and society as a whole.

-Rafiq Rahemtulla - Sudbury, ON