Canadian Lawyer

His concerns are echoed by many lawyers around the country, who jealously eye the political attention given to hospital buildings and schools. Several provinces, including Manitoba, British Columbia, and Quebec, have not built a single new courthouse in the past decade. At the same time, investment in the upkeep of existing court facilities has been steadily falling in six jurisdictions, according to information obtained by Canadian Lawyer. • In Ontario, spending on low-level courthouse maintenance and repairs has plummeted to $26.5 million in 2012-13 from $48 million in 2008-09. In each of the past five years, the government spent less than it had budgeted — by up to 18 per cent. • British Columbia has seen a 22-percent drop in its spending on courthouse maintenance and repairs, down to $23 million last year. • Alberta, Quebec, and Saskatchewan have also seen small decreases, while NEW EDITION 2013/2014 Lexpert® CCCA/ACCJE CORPORATE COUNSEL DIRECTORY AND YEARBOOK, 12TH EDITION WHERE GREAT BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES AWAIT ORDER NOW AND SAVE 25% Special price $815 (promo code 62519) Market your services. Grow your business. Connect with potential clients on a whole new level. With the Lexpert® Corporate Counsel Directory and Yearbook – you get: all the contact and biographical information you need to network with thousands of potential new clients across Canada insight into the leading legal decisionmakers representing almost 1,500 corporations across Canada feature articles about legal and business issues facing Corporate Counsel to assist you in building deeper connections a cost-effective and time-saving way to market your services a trusted name upon which you can build your practice on Benefit from a wealth of business development opportunities in the 2013/2014 Lexpert® CCCA/ACCJE Corporate Counsel Directory and Yearbook, 12th edition. Order your copy today! Visit www.carswell.com or call 1-800-387-5164. 30 ntitled-2 1 November/December 2013 www.CANADIAN Manitoba's budget has increased slightly. • The much smaller budget for federal court maintenance has fallen to $174,700 nationwide in 2013-14 from $447,000 in 2008-09. Meanwhile, courts are dealing with increasingly complex cases, a growth in demand on the civil side, and a greater number of unrepresented litigants who take up more of the judiciary's time. In some areas, such as those near oilsands, courts are reportedly stretched to the breaking point. Associate Chief Justice John Rooke of the Alberta Court of Queen's Bench says the Edmonton Law Courts' roof frequently leaks and is riddled with asbestos. In other towns, such as Fort McMurray, Hinton, and Red Deer, there are severe space shortages, he says, making it difficult to carry out jury trials. Provincial governments argue the spending reductions have been necessitated by tightened finances. "We keep asking the ministers of justice and infrastructure to provide facilities and the answer we're getting is that there aren't the sufficient funds to do it at this specific time," says Rooke. An Alberta Infrastructure spokeswoman said in a statement that "demands on the justice system have grown since many of Alberta's courthouses were built" and the government "is continuously doing work to balance this demand with available funding." Some capacity issues are being addressed by "increasing the use of direct indictments" and by "assessing existing procedures in traffic and small claims courts," she said. An Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General spokesman said the annual spending figures reflect "the repairs and maintenance that could realistically be funded and carried out in each of those years. The amounts fluctuate up and down from year-to-year, based on need and competing spending priorities in each of those years." But per capita spending on criminal justice across Canada has not collapsed. To the contrary, it has actually jumped by 23 per cent since 2002, according to the Parliamentary Budget Office. Should courthouses be given greater priority by ministries faced with tough spending decisions? L a w ye r m a g . c o m 13-09-11 4:56 PM

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