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Milton court operations shifting to Burlington Convention Centre

Despite cancellation of replacement, the province is mum on plans to renovate ageing Halton courthouses
Burlington Convention Centre

A year after cancelling the construction of a long-awaited and badly needed new Oakville courthouse, the province has rented a local convention centre to house justice operations.

As of May 31, all Milton court operations will move to the Burlington Convention Centre and the adjacent Marriott hotel at Burloak Drive and the QEW.

The province is emptying the Steeles Avenue courthouse to allow for the remediation of recurring mould problems.

That work will begin in June and last until late fall 2021, according to the media office for the Ministry of the Attorney General.

The convention centre’s large ballroom will be transformed into a courtroom for civil, family or out-of-custody criminal matters that require in-person appearances.

Another 11 courtrooms will accommodate Zoom-based hearings, with one area set up to allow people without access to connect to remote hearings.

Facilities for court filings will be set up, with hotel rooms used as offices for court staff.

Neither local Conservative MPP Stephen Crawford or Effie Triantafilopoulos, who serves as vice-chair of the Standing Committee on Justice Policy, agreed to talk to us about this.

No communication

In May 2020, Doug Ford’s government cancelled the planned Halton Region Consolidated Courthouse, which was intended to replace the region’s deficient courthouses in Milton and Burlington.

Slated to be built in Oakville on provincially owned lands north of the hospital, the seven-storey, 32-courtroom facility was officially announced in 2017 and cancelled only weeks before the start of construction.

At the time, the province said it would be investing in “new and innovative ways of delivering justice remotely and online” but promised to address longstanding problems with Halton’s two existing courthouses.

Since then, the region's politicians and legal professionals have made repeated calls for the Oakville courthouse project to be revived, pointing to crumbling, inadequate and unrepairable facilities.

The province has replied with vague promises about future announcements.

The lack of communication has frustrated the Halton County Law Association, says Ken Kelertas, director of legal services for the Halton Regional Police Service and past president of the association.

In a March 24 letter to Ontario’s Attorney General, the association notes, “Despite assurances from you and your staff that an announcement would be made in the fall of 2020 outlining your government’s plan to address the chronic dysfunction of the Milton and Burlington courthouses, our Association has heard nothing.

“In fact, no one from your Ministry has consulted with us, and no mention has been made of the Halton courthouse project or any planned expenditure by your Ministry in Halton in any of the provincial budget statements released over the last year.”

Staff and services relocated for at least six months

In-person proceedings have been suspended in Milton since last October when the province launched what it said would be a “comprehensive, independent mould/indoor air quality investigation” of the entire courthouse.

While the legal community has been told the move to the conference centre will be for six months, local criminal lawyer Brendan Neil is skeptical.

“They’re saying six months, but nobody I talk to believes it’s really going to be six months,” says Neil, who serves as Halton regional director for the Criminal Lawyers Association.

“What we’re worried about is a whole bunch of portables going up in the back lot.”

Along with his concern that the province’s solution to Halton’s woes will be “putting an addition on a building that should be bulldozed,” Neil is also worried about access to justice issues arising from the move to the convention centre.

“I think it’s going to be much more difficult for the regular Joe Public to get info,” he said. “I think it's going to be much more difficult for them to get things filed. I think it's going to be much more difficult for them to see justice done.”

“To have a jurisdiction with a population as large as Halton has, without an actual courthouse that functions, is kind of disgraceful.”

Hotel remains open

Jack Moreira, owner of the Burlington Convention Centre, said COVID-19 concerns and uncertainty around re-opening plans led him to agree to lease out the wedding and banquet facility to the courts.

While the space won't generate as much cash as it normally does, he said the arrangement gives him a break from worrying about sick guests, cancelled events or limited group sizes.

"I can't live with the uncertainty of whether the government will open or not," he said.

While he is not accepting any event bookings for the coming months, Moreira said rooms remain available to rent in the 135-room hotel connected to the centre.


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