Halton justice needs a new home.
That’s the message from local legal professionals, who are calling on the province to revive plans to build a state-of-the-art courthouse in Oakville.
The recent closure of the Milton courthouse due to a recurrence of mould has made that call more urgent.
Modernized courthouse cancelled
Last May, the Ontario government announced the cancellation of the planned Halton Region Consolidated Courthouse that was intended to replace the region’s aging courthouses in Milton and Burlington.
The seven-storey, 45,000 square metre courthouse was officially announced in 2017 and expected to open in late 2023 or early 2024.
It was to be built on provincially-owned land on Third Line, north of the hospital, for a cost of between $200 and $500 million.
Cancelled only a month before construction was set to start, the project would have featured up to 32 courtrooms and a broad range of services.
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The cancellation led Ken Kelertas, president of the Halton County Law Association and director of legal services for the Halton Regional Police Service, to warn the province of a foreseeable collapse of the region’s justice system due to the state of those “chronically dysfunctional” courthouses.
“Halton is in dire need of modern infrastructure through which the citizens of Halton can obtain meaningful access to justice,” he wrote, in a letter dated May 11.
When it announced the cancellation, in favour of investing in “new and innovative ways of delivering justice remotely and online,” the province promised to address the infrastructure needs at the region’s two existing courthouses.
Six months later, there’s been no word on plans to address the inadequate facilities, according to the association’s latest letter to the province.
Existing courtrooms in “horrible condition,” Kelertas says
“You need bricks and mortar, you need a hub for justice services in Halton,” said Kelertas in an interview with Oakville News.“We don’t have that right now – the existing facilities are in horrible condition and don’t serve the people of Halton.”
All Milton in-person hearings suspended in October
All provincial courthouses were closed in March due to the pandemic but began reopening in July 2020.
In-person proceedings were again suspended at the Milton courthouse in October, after mould was discovered.
any attempt to transform either site into an efficient hub of justice is sheer folly
Had the courthouse not been operating at a reduced level due to the pandemic, the closure would have disrupted countless proceedings, Kelertas told the province in his recent letter.
“In other words, the predicted collapse would have come to pass.”
The association says the age, physical condition of the buildings and limited property around them make it impossible to address key issues.
“Having been privy to prior technical studies to “fix” the Halton courthouses, we suggest to you that any attempt to transform either site into an efficient hub of justice is sheer folly,” says the May letter.
Milton work may take "several months" to complete
The provincial Ministry of the Attorney General said no one was available for an interview.
In an emailed response to our questions, the media relations department said the ministry is initiating a “comprehensive, independent mould/indoor air quality investigation” of the entire Milton courthouse.
“It is expected this work may take several months,” the email added.
The ministry declined to say how much it had to pay in cancellation fees for the Oakville courthouse.
In response to our question about specific improvements, timing and budget for upgrades to the Halton courthouses, the email said, “The Attorney General looks forward to sharing the government’s vision for a truly reimagined justice system in the coming months.”
“In the longer term, the shift of traditional investments toward innovation and new technology will move more services online and ensure sustained access to the justice system that will benefit not only the Halton region, but the entire province,” it added.
Effie Triantafilopoulos, MPP for Oakville North-Burlington MPP, serves as vice-chair of the Standing Committee on Justice Policy. She did not respond to our request for an interview on this subject.
Concerns with existing Halton courthouses
- Shortage of courtrooms across region, and no ability to house complex, multi-party proceedings
- Milton has only two courtrooms to accommodate jury trials, no jury room
- Security concerns related to holding cells and transportation of in-custody defendants
- Inadequate meeting space for lawyers to meet with clients
- Mould and asbestos in Milton courthouse has prevented access to new technologies to allow for remote hearings
- Distance between the two courthouses makes it impossible to quickly shift resources
- Shortage of parking at both sites