The Thompson courthouse in the provincial building will get an additional courtroom, more holding cells and an additional judge's chamber thanks to an $11 million renovation project announced by Justice Minister Cliff Cullen June 4.
Other improvements include revamping existing courtrooms, creating a smaller courtroom for judicial justice of the peace and also a child-friendly courtroom as well as a safer and separate waiting area for victims, including child witnesses. Closed-circuit camera security, X-ray machines and handheld and walk-through metal detectors will also be added to the facilities for better screening of people entering the court office.
“The project will increase accessibility to the Thompson court office and make court proceedings more timely and efficient,” said Cullen, adding that the recent hiring of four additional clerks complements coming improvements to the administration area. “We’re in the process of hiring two more additional Crown prosecutors, hoping to have those in place in the very near future. We’re trying to provide a better internal process in terms of more timely access here so that we can expedite matters in a more timely fashion.”
The justice minister also mentioned a recently announced $300,000 in funding for a public safety strategy for Thompson.
“One of the areas we were looking at was targeting some high-crime areas,” he said. “Recognizing that Thompson falls into that category, we thought it would be important to allocate some money for a local strategy here in Thompson … to work away at some of the high crime rates that we have seen here in the area.”
The renovations are expected to begin within one or two years, Cullen said.
Manitoba RCMP criminal operations officer Chief Supt. Rob Hill – the second-highest-ranking RCMP member in Manitoba – said Thompson has ongoing issues with crime that police can’t arrest their way out of.
“It has to be done by examining the underlying causes of crime and victimization through such avenues as extrajudicial measures, restorative justice approaches and, most importantly, multi-agency partnerships,” said Hill, noting that Thompson’s status as a hub can contribute to crime in some ways.
“You have a lot of people from smaller communities in here temporarily and sometimes maybe not with all their family or support systems in place,” said Hill. “That could lead to a few activities they may not normally do in their home community.”
Mayor Colleen Smook, who just returned to Thompson after a week in Quebec at a conference, said hearing about the crime that occurred while she was away was “devastating.”
“We heard about stabbings, we heard about all kinds of things going on in Thompson,” she said. “It is bad. The RCMP last week had their highest crime statistics and calls ever in Thompson. Last week broke all records.”
Part of the public safety strategy and issues discussed during meetings with Cullen and the RCMP on Tuesday included addressing problems before they get serious.
“Children in homes, foster homes and youth centres, if you get a handle on that, start working with them then that’s going to improve it down the line,” said Smook. “The majority of the kids in care in Thompson are from outlying communities so they’re not even used to Thompson, they don’t know people in Thompson. They’re brought in here to the foster system and the juvenile system but they really have no connection to Thompson. It’s up to us to start looking after them better than we do. We have to hold the whole system accountable for the safety of children, right up to the government social workers with the big caseloads.”
Smook said without prevention programs, the crime Thompson has seen this spring could become a regular occurrence.
“If we don’t get a handle on it, it could become the norm so it’s got to end now.”
