Mould, asbestos at Milton courthouse have led to 'delays in judicial process,' police board says
Calls to address the deteriorating state of the courthouse in Milton are growing.
The Halton Police Board published an open letter Thursday morning on X, formerly known as Twitter, asking Attorney General Doug Downey, to address the "longstanding and well-documented issues plaguing this facility," which it says have significantly impacted the administration of justice in the region.
"The Milton courthouse's deficiencies have been an open secret, underscored by repeated closures," Coun. Jeff Knoll, chair of the board, wrote in the letter.
Mould, asbestos and structural concerns have prompted periodic closures of the courthouse located on 491 Steeles Avenue East. "These issues have not only posed health and safety risks but have also led to significant delays in the judicial process," the letter says.
CBC Toronto previously reported on one of the closures in Sept. 2023, which resulted in the judges to stop presiding in the in-person cases in the facility.
"The impact of those adjournments on the accused persons and on the complainants, and the potential consequences not yet known — for these three cases and for every case of every kind in Halton Region," said Superior Court Justice Clayton Conlan during the September closure.
It was the second time in two years that in-person hearings had been suspended after a similar mould problem was determined in 2021.
New courthouse plan scrapped
A new courthouse project was announced in June 2017 to address the state of the current building — something Knoll called "glimmer of hope" in the police board letter.
However, that plan was scrapped in May 2020 by the Attorney General's office.
"This decision has left us with a facility that is not only insufficient but increasingly untenable," Knoll said.
Knoll urged Downey's office to reconsider and reinstate the original plan of building a new courthouse, rather than attempting band-aid solutions to the existing one.
"Surely that review will guide the province towards a new facility rather than further investing significantly and wasting tax dollars by investing in this long outdated one."
Province won't commit to reviving plan
In a statement to CBC Toronto, the Ministry of the Attorney General said the government has made significant investments to upgrade security, technology, and building functionality at the Milton and Burlington courthouses.
The majority of the investments surround technological upgrades to allow virtual and hybrid hearings, as well as digital platforms to replace paper-based procedures and reduce delays and backlogs, it said.
The statement did not say whether the province will considering reinstating its plan to build a new courthouse.
The attorney general, deputy attorney general, and several stakeholders visited the Milton courthouse last fall to discuss "current and future challenges and growth pressures in the Halton Region and see the facilities first hand," said Keesha Seaton, spokesperson for the Ministry of the Attorney General.
"We will continue to work with our partners in Halton Region on the immediate and long term needs in Milton," she said.
