On our Financial Friday posts, we usually talk more directly about money. Today, I want to talk about something slightly different. Legal issues impact our finances in so many ways. Whether it is minimum wage rates, spousal and child support, scams, taxes, or discrimination, the steps forward to deal with these things are guided by laws. All these things relate to our money situation. And there is so much unclear, confusing information that is shared face-to-face, through the media, and on social media. It can be difficult to know what the correct information is and have it shared in a clear, concise, and understandable way.

When I am working with clients one-on-one, we talk about different parts of their financial situation. It gives us a chance to have a conversation about the things that are important to them, things they worry about, things they are excited about, and things that are mundane. I love having these conversations. I love getting to know more about people and their lives and who they are, even the little you can get to know about someone in an hour. These are important, caring, interesting, and difficult conversations. And during these conversations, people may talk about things that are important in their lives that I don’t know how to help them with.

But, I can tell them who may be able to help them. The Grey Bruce Community Legal Clinic is a group of lawyers, paralegals, and other professionals who know about legal issues, can give legal information to people, and represent people in specific situations. They can help with:

• Canada Pension Plan (CPP) issues
• Employment and Work related issues
• Employment Insurance issues
• Housing Law, including rental issues
• Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) and Ontario Works (OW) issues.

I am thankful that I can refer people to the community legal clinic knowing the staff there are compassionate, knowledgeable, and professional. If you have issues with any of the above topics, call the clinic at (519)370-2200. They are open Monday to Friday from 8:30am-4:30pm.

Another trustworthy source of information is the Steps to Justice website. This is an amazing place to learn information about legal topics in Ontario. It has a Hide this Website button at the top of the website to quickly hide it if you need to. My favourite thing about this website is they use simple, clear, understandable language to talk about difficult, confusing legal information. It is kept up-to-date and is easy to follow. They have guides on many topics, including Family Law. It is a relief to have a website that I can trust and use to better understand legal topics. I feel confident when I tell people about the website that they will find relevant information that is communicated in a clear way.