Alberta's Associate Chief Justice says its time for Edmonton to get a new courthouse; J.D. Rooke made the unexpected announcement as Alberta Justice opened its doors to the public Saturday.
It was built in the 1970s and Justice Rooke says Edmonton's courthouse is just too small to serve the needs of the public.
"We need more space to provide the services that we provide," said Justice Rooke.
Rooke's comments come as Edmontonians eagerly await new details about the proposed downtown arena development which is expected to take up large plots of undeveloped land.
"This is the time to seize the moment and make certain that there is sufficient land to build a new or expanded facility," said Rooke.
Rooke's comments were made on Law Day in Alberta, a day when the public is invited into their local courthouses to learn about their legal system and the role the law plays in their community. While some were surprised by the timing of the comments, others say the public audience provided a great opportunity to get the message across.
"We would want to encourage the Alberta Government to construct a courthouse that could accommodate the needs of Albertans," said Scott Watson with the Law Society of Alberta. "We hear complaints from time to time that there are not enough courtrooms and that there might not be enough judges."
MLA Laurie Blakeman says at first glance a new courthouse makes sense.
"I would urge the government to put a new Edmonton courthouse on their capital infrastructure list," said Blakeman.
Justice Rooke did not talk about specifics, like how much more space is needed - or whether he'd prefer a new building over a renovated one, but he did say Edmonton needs something comparable to the $300 million state of the art courthouse in Calgary.
Alberta Justice says it is in the early stages of looking at a possible upgrade to the current courthouse, which they admit is too small.
With files from Sean Amato
