Attorney General working with New West city council to improve Indigenous court conditions

NEW WESTMINSTER (NEWS 1130) – British Columbia’s Attorney General is now working with city council in New Westminster to improve the cramped conditions inside the city’s Indigenous court facility.

It’s a bit different from a traditional courtroom in that everyone in attendance participates in the process, but City Councillor Chuck Puchmayr says the room in which proceedings are held is not big enough to fit everyone involved.

“Often there’s not even room for the family members, and they wait outside in the hallway while sometimes the case of their own family member proceeds,” he says, adding the city informed the attorney general about the unacceptable state of the facility.

“Some people stand, the lights continue to flicker on and off when somebody’s standing where the light switch is, there’s always that interruption,” Puchmayr says. “It doesn’t really show a true, respectful venue for such an important piece of Indigenous reconciliation.”

He says David Eby has promised action and they’re now looking at the possibility of holding Indigenous court proceedings at city hall.

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