The executive director of Legal Aid Manitoba has resigned to take a job in Toronto after months of butting heads with the NDP-appointed chairman of the agency's board of directors.
Gerry McNeely confirmed Wednesday he has been hired as the director of Ontario's new Independent Police Review System, an arm's length body that will vet complaints against municipal and provincial police.
The new agency was created following a report by Justice Patrick LeSage, former chief justice of the Ontario Superior Court. McNeely, who assumes his new position at the end of the month, worked with LeSage before coming to Manitoba.
McNeely, who is originally from Toronto, said he is sad to leave Winnipeg after nine years heading up Legal Aid.
"I think Legal Aid in Manitoba is in a much better place than when I came here nine years ago," McNeely said. The nearly decade-long tenure at the head of legal aid has not been without its struggles. Several operational reviews, changes to governing legislation, and conflicts with private bar lawyers garnered headlines during his run.
Recently, government sources said McNeely expressed frustration about deepening conflict with Mario Santos, the politically appointed chairman of the board of directors. The sources said the two men sparred over a variety of issues, including decisions to pay some private lawyers additional money above normal fees for complex cases.
McNeely would not confirm a conflict with Santos, but did acknowledge "difficulties" over the years. "People will always interpret things differently," he said. "All I'm prepared to say is that there were some challenges and difficulties."
Santos said he had no particular concerns about McNeely's performance even though they didn't always agree.
"He is the executive director and I am the chairman and we work together because that is our job," Santos said. "We all have likes and dislikes but we have to do our jobs."
McNeely said one of his greatest satisfactions was reaching an agreement to pay private lawyers who take on legal aid work a 40 per cent increase in basic fees. Private lawyers had essentially stopped taking cases to protest low fees.
Among the unresolved issues Legal Aid is still trying to resolve is the shortage of lawyers in northern Manitoba.
dan.lett@freepress.mb.ca
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