Government defends spending on law firm handling Policy 713 case

The Higgs government has started its final legislative sprint before this year's election defending its spending on outside law firms that are handling a range of legal disputes on behalf of the province.

Opposition Liberal Leader Susan Holt pressed the government to reveal how much it is spending on hiring outside law firms to represent the province before the courts. 

Education Minister Bill Hogan has criticized the Anglophone East district education council for spending $279,917, as of April 16, to pay an Ontario law firm to challenge the province over Policy 713.

Holt says the province's spending on outside lawyers will probably be greater than that.

"This is Hypocrisy 101. With 40 to 45 lawyers on the government payroll, why hire outside counsel?" she said, demanding to know the amount.

Hogan did not provide one but instead defended his position that the education council should repeal its own implementation policy on Policy 713. 

"We are going to continue to defend parent rights," he said. "I'll defend it today, I'll defend it tomorrow, I'll defend it from this day forward until the election, through the next election and after that." 

The provincial policy requires school staff to get parental consent before students under the age of 16 can choose new names and pronouns to use at school to reflect their gender identity.

The district is arguing that Policy 713 violates the rights of 2SLGBTQ+ students, and it's asking for an injunction to block Hogan from repealing its own implementation policy, which gives students more leeway and says the Charter of Rights and Freedoms trumps the policy.

Hogan later told reporters that the dollar figure Holt was looking for wasn't under the purview of his department.

Attorney General Ted Flemming didn't speak to reporters Tuesday and didn't provide an amount for the legal expenses during Question Period.

He suggested the spending is necessary because the province refuses to settle lawsuits brought against it in court.

"The province is the defendant. The province is being sued. We are not suing anybody," he said.

"We don't fold like a cheap tent the way the Liberals used to on a lot of legal stuff."