B.C. Legal Aid for the 'Chosen Few'

In response to the crisis in the B. C. Legal Aid system due to underfunding and the government's decision to pay the $6 million legal expenses of two confessed criminal government workers, I wrote and submitted the following letter to the Nanaimo Daily News (now part of the Postmedia group).

Dear Editor,

RE: Underfunded legal aid system is in 'crisis', says new report, Nov. 10/10

It must be painfully obvious to anyone who has been paying even a little bit of attention to the actions of the Liberal government in Victoria that, after slashing the Legal Aid budget by 1/3 since coming to power in 2001, they still managed to come up with $6 million dollars from we taxpayers to pay the exorbitant legal fees of two confessed criminals, David Basi and Bob Virk, who accepted bribes while working for the government in jobs that enabled those crimes. One could perhaps understand the logic if what they did had been considered part of their jobs, i.e., if they were told to do something by their superiors which then put them in trouble with the law, but that isn't what happened here - is it?!?
That $6 million (of which $1 - 2 million was reportedly for 'document management'), for the benefit of only two individuals with some assets, is equal to 9% of the entire current annual government contribution to the B. C. Legal Services Society of $66.9 million, which we are told was to cover 6,207 cases (down from 15,526 when this government first came to office). The paying of their legal bills with taxpayer monies and the leaving of their assets intact was totally contrary to two agreements they had previously signed with the government. We really must demand an answer as to WHY?!?

Sincerely,
Hans J. Larsen