An NWT Supreme Court judge has overturned a decision by an adjudicator and ruled that a physically-challenged Yellowknife woman is not entitled to legal aid.
video still courtesy City of Yellowknife
In written decision released Aug. 29 following a two-year hearing in April, judge Karan Shaner dismissed William McFetridge's decision.
The saga began in 2011, when Portman, an ex-employee with the territorial government who lives with multiple sclerosis, complained about her employee benefits. She claimed her condition caused her fatigue and limited the time she was able to spend preparing for and participating in a legal proceeding.
Portman applied for, but was denied, legal aid. She then filed a complaint with the NWT Human Rights Commission.
“Legal aid's practice of denying legal aid for human rights complaints systemically discriminates against persons with disabilities,” stated her complaint. “And the denial of my appeal is a denial to accommodate my disability.”
However, the Human Rights Commission sided with the territorial government's Legal Services Board, now known as the Legal Aid Commission, which is the agency that denied Portman's legal-aid application in the first place.
The GNWT then asked the Alberta-based McFetridge to review and adjudicate the case. He eventually ruled Portman was indeed entitled to legal aid. He also ordered that Portman be paid $10,000 by the GNWT for the distress and injury to her dignity, feelings and self-respect. The territorial government then appealed that decision.
In her ruling following an April hearing, Shaner stated McFetridge made several errors in law.
“First, he erred in determining the (legal aid) policy of not providing legal services for complaints under the Human Rights Act was discriminatory,” stated Shaner “Second, the adjudicator did not take into account the fact that the (Human Rights) Commission and the adjudication panel are each separate and independent from the GNWT. This led him to hold the GNWT responsible for accommodating Ms. Portman in accessing the complaint process under the Human Rights Act.”
Shaner went on to state McFetridge misconstrued the relationship between the GNWT and legal aid, often treating them as the same entity. She added this led him to make an order which would result in the GNWT undermining legal aid's role setting policies and deciding who will be granted aid. Shaner went on to state the adjudicator erred in holding the GNWT and/or the legal aid responsible for accommodating Ms. Portman.
In her conclusion, Shaner ruled that the adjudicator's decision was unreasonable and granted the GNWT and the Legal Services Board's appeal. She set aside the adjudicator's decision.
It appears that Portman's only legal option now is to file a claim with the NWT Court of Appeal. She did not respond to a question from Yellowknifer about whether she intends to do that.
In September 2016, Portman won a Human Rights Adjudication Panel decision against the city which charged users of its accessible transit system more than users of regular city buses. She was awarded $8,000 – the amount she had paid above what a regular transit user would have paid between February 2014 and December 2015. She was also awarded $10,000 in 2016 after she won a human-rights case against the territorial government for failing to properly accommodate disabled people at the legislative assembly building.