Courthouse closure bad idea say mayor, police

ROB ALEXANDER BANFF

The decision to close the Banff courthouse and reduce the number of RCMP members in Banff is going to have an adverse effect on the community, according to officials with the Town of Banff and Banff RCMP.

The solicitor general of Alberta announced earlier this year plans to discontinue the extra allocation of $700,000 that provides Banff with seven extra RCMP members.

Added to that is the closure of the Banff Provincial Courthouse, effective Dec. 31, 2010, of which the Town was not formally notified by Alberta Justice until Aug. 9.

Alberta Justice plans indicated in April it plans to close the Banff courthouse to save the $175,000 a year it costs to lease the Cascade Plaza location and improve security.

“I have had discussions with the solicitor general about the situation of our RCMP detachment and discussions with the attorney general and expressed my complete displeasure with these decisions,” Banff Mayor John Stutz said.

“Also, what was very confusing and annoying to me was we did not receive any notification of this happening prior to Aug. 9. The decision had been made without consultation of either the RCMP detachment here in Banff or myself and the Town of Banff.”

In a news release dated Aug. 20, Sgt. Rob Savage stated closing the courthouse would create an added burden for the public attempting to access court services.

“The burden will be on the public to find their own way to Canmore to attend court and we anticipate this will be a significant problem for those without vehicles.

“Additional costs are also associated with having officers travelling to Canmore,” Savage wrote.

Another issue both Stutz and Savage have identified is having Banff RCMP members travelling to Canmore for court, potentially taking them off the street for hours at a time and potentially the entire day.

“It will take boots off the street because they will have to travel there and spend their day there,” Stutz said, adding at Banff court, RCMP members can at least coordinate their time with the judge and the crown prosecutor and return when required.

“Because of the time it takes to travel back and forth between Banff and Canmore, we anticipate officers will have to spend longer in Canmore while waiting for their court appearances,” Savage said.

Stutz said the Solicitor General’s office has committed to maintain the current detachment size at 20 for the rest of 2010.

“We have at least that commitment,” Stutz said.

Another concern Stutz said had no bearing on the situation is the claim that prisoners were being escorted through the public areas of the mall to the third-floor courthouse.

Stutz said that is not case.

“There is no access to the public for these folks that are appearing at our present courthouse,” he said.

Instead, prisoners are driven into a private garage in the Cascade Plaza parkade and then escorted to a cell off the parkade. However, if sheriffs are transporting multiple prisoners in a passenger van, they are forced to park on the street and either escort prisoners to elevators at the suite entrance or through the parkade to another elevator.

Stutz met with Alberta Justice minister Alison Redford in July after learning of Alberta Justice’s plan. During that meeting, Stutz said he explained what the effect of both the closure and losing seven RCMP members would have on the community.

“She indicated to me that she would speak with the solicitor general and bring this situation of the courthouse closing to his attention and express my concern about the situation being further exasperated. She alluded that she would support me on this situation with the solicitor general and I expect her to assist us on that endeavour,” he said.

Stutz said the attorney general suggested the yearly lease costs for the current location of the courthouse is only a small part of the overall expenditure in operating the courthouse.

“The attorney general indicated to me that was a small expenditure in operating the courthouse. My concern there was how is it going to be different if they have to run all of the court cases they normally would in Canmore? It is still going to require the same number of people and the same number of hours. I’m confused as to why that is only a small component of the charges here. And I invited the attorney general to discuss this with the managing company of Cascade Plaza,” he said.

The move will also affect a core of Banff’s population – its 5,000-plus service workers – many of whom do not have a car.

“Typically, they do not own vehicles and from time to time they will be required to make a court appearance for whatever reason and this compromises their ability to get to the courthouse,” he said.

The alternatives are costly taxis, hitch-hiking or limited bus service, all of which could keep witnesses and people accused of committing a crime from attending court or forcing them into an unsafe situation.

“Banff is a safe and secure community. It has become that because of the services we offer and those services are being eroded,” Stutz said.