Burlington council joins renewed calls to reinstate Halton courthouse plans

Conditions have continued to deteriorate for years, impacting services

Burlington city council has joined renewed calls for the province to reinstate plans for a new Oakville courthouse to replace the dilapidated, out-of-date and unsafe one in Milton.

Councillors passed a resolution March 19 stating the city supports “the Halton Police Service Board’s most recent appeal to the Ministry of the Attorney General to move forward on construction of a new courthouse in Oakville to ensure Halton residents access their constitutional right to timely, effective administration of justice in Ontario.”

The resolution will be forwarded to Attorney General Doug Downey, Solicitor General Michael Kerzner and local MPPs.

This plea is the latest since the plan for a Halton Region Consolidated Courthouse on Oakville property owned by the province, replacing existing courts in Milton and Burlington, was cancelled during the procurement process in May 2020.

The Halton police board and chief raised concerns last month, including safety challenges moving prisoners through the outdated building.

The new courthouse project was initially announced in June 2017 and originally called for a sevenstorey, 45,000-square-foot building at a cost of between $200 million and $499 million.

According to the cancellation announcement, the Progressive Conservative government decided instead to invest in court technology across the province.

Coun. Lisa Kearns said she couldn’t express how critical a new courthouse is, adding when a coalition of construction organizations, municipalities and other groups called for the project to be reinstated shortly after the 2020 cancellation, it was “already too late.”

“The temporary solutions that have been applied are subpar for anyone who is participating in the judicial process here in Halton,” Kearns said.

She said closures due to health and safety concerns are “particularly alarming and underscore the urgent need for a more modern facility.”

Coun. Rory Nisan called the situation “a little bit shocking” when the premier has said he wants to be tougher on crime.

“The dilapidated state of the courthouse is jeopardizing justice — justice for victims and also the prevention of future crimes,” Nisan said. “The whole system is undermined when you can’t hold trials.”

Mayor Marianne Meed Ward said the courthouse’s condition means some proceedings can’t go forward, and mould, crumbling ceilings and rodent infestations mean it’s not a safe workplace for anyone.

Their concerns were echoed by several lawyers from the Halton County Law Association. Three members of the association’s executive said conditions at the Milton courthouse are unacceptable — and can only be fixed by construction of a new, consolidated Halton courthouse.

Meghan Walker of Martin & Hillyer Associates said private rooms are lacking, so lawyers consult clients in hallways, creating privacy issues. She said some judges refused to sit for hearings at the Milton courthouse last fall due to health concerns.

Walker said the 62-year-old courthouse was built for a different time, and Halton has grown “exponentially” since then.

Jasmine Sweatman of Sweatman Law said a new Halton courthouse has been an issue for the 20 years she’s practised in the region.

“We were very excited when we learned the news that finally, after all those years, our region was going to be getting a new courthouse … but then the pandemic hit,” Sweatman said.

She said she appreciates the pandemic resulted in different government priorities, but that doesn’t minimize concerns about the courthouse’s condition, particularly health hazards.

“Getting a new courthouse is critical for this region, not only for the health issues but also safety issues, and the current courthouse is simply an inadequate space on all levels,” Sweatman said.

James Page of Martin & Hillyer, and vice-president of the law association, said both the Milton and Burlington courthouses are “completely inadequate.”

He noted the lack of space for confidential conversations with clients.

“It’s unacceptable,” Page said. “It’s not fair to the lawyers and it’s definitely not fair to the clients.”

He said there aren’t enough courtrooms and COVID shutdowns created a backlog of civil cases.

“The judges and court staff are working very hard to get things done, but that backlog is just so huge. It’s overwhelming,” Page said.

He said space issues in Milton led to the opening of the satellite court in Burlington 20 years ago.

“Space was a big issue even back then. It’s only getting worse with a booming population in Halton,” Page said.

He said mould was so bad in 2021, everyone had to move out of the Milton courthouse and into the Burlington Convention Centre.

“The Burlington Convention Centre is a lovely venue for weddings and galas — but it’s a banquet hall, not a courthouse,” Page said. “There have been mould problems since then too, along with asbestos concerns, broken air conditioning and gas leaks. We had bats flying inside the building in 2023.”

He said renovations would be “just throwing good money after bad. It’s not a good use of taxpayers’ money. Funding should go toward a new facility.”

Page said one courthouse is needed in a central location, large enough to accommodate the needs of the community.

“We need it to be safe for our judges, our court staff, our jurors, our lawyers and their clients, and anyone else that needs to be there to see justice done,” he said.

The Ministry of the Attorney General did not answer questions about repeated calls for a new courthouse, or the current status and condition of the Milton facility.

Spokesperson Andrew Kennedy stated in an email the ministry has made “investments to upgrade security, technology and building functionality at the Milton and Burlington courthouses,” but didn’t provide details of that work.

Kennedy said the province is investing $166 million over seven years for a new digital justice platform to manage cases, documents and schedules at the Superior Court of Justice and Ontario Court of Justice; $8 million was invested three years ago in technology for virtual and hybrid hearings in response to COVID-19; and in February 2022, the ministry announced $65 million over five years to ensure courtrooms across Ontario have technology to allow people to participate in hearings through video or audio.

Ministry of Labour spokesperson Anuradha Dhar said there have been two inspections of the Milton courthouse in the past year, but no orders were issued.

‘‘ The temporary solutions that have been applied are subpar for anyone who is participating in the judicial process here in Halton. LISA KEARNS COUNCILLOR