B.C.’s Attorney General says the province is currently reviewing a proposal that is aiming to establish a community court in the City of Kamloops.
David Eby made that comment at last week’s City Council meeting, noting the application from Kamloops was received in Oct. 2020.
“A review of the proposal has been done by ministry staff and a letter has been sent identifying areas for further consideration,” he said.
“One of those is the involvement of the local judiciary who are really important to bring along because they tend to have dedicated judges who are particularly good at this kind of work that sit on these courts.”
Eby’s comments came after the issue was raised by Councillor Bill Sarai.
“This could really help our community and be a benchmark for other communities that are dealing with the addiction and mental health issues that lead to vandalism, other forms of addiction-related criminal acts,” Sarai said.
“We could help these individuals not only regain some self confidence and some health issues, but we could also help our community.”
A proponent of the Kamloops Community Justice Court, Ruby Dhand, told NL News in Nov. 2020 that there is evidence that the specialized court system would lower the chances of a criminal reoffending.
“In other jurisdictions, it can often be referred to as a mental health court,” Dhand, an associate professor of Law at Thompson Rivers University said. “It’s basically an alternative, specialized court that would provide supports to individuals appearing before the courts, so they can be diverted from the criminal justice system.”
Eby said an ongoing performance review of Kelowna’s integrated court could help benefit the Kamloops court, when it is set up.
“The process is underway and I want to express my appreciation to the people who are advancing that proposal because that is how these courts get that is through community cooperation,” Eby said.
During his presentation to City Council, Eby also noted that the community court could compliment a complex care facility which is meant to house people struggling with mental health and addictions issues.
Eby said Kamloops is a priority for such a facility, noting the court could also identify people who would benefit from that type of housing.
“Although complex care is voluntary, it could be part of a sentence that someone has out of a community court that they must attend and participate in complex care housing that’s offered in the community in order to avoid a custodial sentence,” Eby added.
Eby, who is also B.C.’s Minister Responsible for Housing, urged the City to formalize a memorandum of understanding with BC Housing. He says the province has similar agreements with other cities, which has helped the province and municipalities work together to identify types of housing that work best for each community.
“These MOU’s act as a structure and a set of predictable outcomes for both sides. We know that council supports moving forward for certain types of housing and the council knows that BC Housing will be bringing forward certain types of housing proposals and working with council on those and formalizing some of these structures of how we work together,” Eby said.
“That coordination that can be brought with a formal agreement with the province and MOU can really help expedite these responses and I know Kamloops is feeling the pressure around that.”
The City’s Social, Housing, and Community Development Manager, Carmin Mazzotta, says work on formalizing that MOU is currently underway, though there isn’t any indication when that MOU will be ready to be signed.
“The City is conducting a land use analysis to identify areas that may be suitable for future year-round shelter sites to address the need for shelters,” he said.
“The City and BC Housing are continuing to work collaboratively to facilitate the development of longer-term supportive and affordable rental housing options in the community.”
