A free clinic in Kamloops for people who need legal services but can’t afford has now been expanded.

The province has granted the Elizabeth Fry Society a quarter-million dollars to hire a lawyer at its legal clinic.

B.C.’s Attorney General Dave Eby says until now the society had a legal advocacy group in but no actual lawyer, meaning clients there can now be represented in court instead of preparing to represent themselves.

“Obviously demand is still significant, and this will not be the solution to every issue someone faces in court. This is an additional lawyer, in some capacity, on the administration side for E Fry. But it will go a long way in terms of people who need that legal advice to get their papers in order and get themselves prepared to go to court,” Eby tells NL News.

“We were able to act really quickly to get funding out, and really efficiently, to increase the capacity by actually having a lawyer there who can walk people through their problems. And there is such a huge difference between reading a book, or a website or a leaflet about how to solve your problem and someone to actually solve you through your problem. Especially if that person has legal training.”

The province has spent $2 million dollars altogether to fund legal aid clinics in eight B.C. communities.

Ahead of today’s announcement, Kamloops – South Thompson MLA Todd Stone praised the Ministry of Attorney General for the investment.

“Anything that we can do to expand access to justice is a very good thing. We will say thank you because that fills a need here in our community.”

Stone says the move is something both he and Kamloops – North Thompson MLA Peter Milobar have been advocating for with the team at the Elizabeth Fry Society.