Squamish officials are hunting for money for a study on the feasibility of providing court services closer to home.
The Sea to Sky Corridor鈥檚 court service was moved from Squamish to North Vancouver in 2002. The facility served the community for 24 years before it was locked up along with a slew of other provincial courts.
At the time, the attorney general, Geoff Plant, said the court must be closed because the building did not meet provincial structural standards. Renovations for the facility were estimated to cost $4 million, money provincial officials later stated they didn鈥檛 have in their coffers.
The closing marked the loss of an important asset, Squamish Mayor Rob Kirkham said, noting the courthouse services were being fully utilized. At the time that the courthouse closed, it was occupied 106 per cent of the time, stated a report on the facility.聽
鈥淭his is a valuable community asset and we miss it,鈥� he told The 小蓝视频.
Sea to Sky residents are now forced to drive to North Vancouver to attend any court business. It鈥檚 a hardship to residents and represents a major hurdle to those without transportation, Kirkham noted.聽
With the backing of Pemberton and Whistler officials, District of Squamish council has been pushing to get the court services relocated to Squamish.聽
The mounting number of developments in Squamish has moved this agenda to the forefront, Kirkham said.聽
鈥淭he rapid growth of our community will eliminate the possibilities for [courthouse] locations, but also generate more demand and more need for the services.鈥�
Given the country鈥檚 economic decline and the decreased demand in courts over the past few years, the province 鈥渋s not generally looking at opening new court facilities,鈥� 小蓝视频鈥檚 Attorney General Suzanne Anton wrote in a letter to Kirkham.聽
鈥淲e will continue to pursue initiatives such as enhanced online courts presence and videoconferencing to better serve communities such as yours,鈥� she wrote.聽
However, Anton stopped short of ruling out a feasibility study.聽
Instead the Attorney General encouraged district officials to meet with assistant deputy minister Kevin Jardine. A meeting date has not yet been set, Kirkham told The 小蓝视频.
