Belated announcement hails Dauphin courthouse reopening
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The provincial government announced the grand reopening of the Dauphin courthouse on Thursday — although court proceedings have taken place in the new facility since July.
The courthouse at 114 River Ave. West fully reopened on July 7 last year, according to the Manitoba Courts website.
The former Progressive Conservative government closed the Dauphin Correctional Centre in May 2020 to complete renovations to expand the courthouse, which shared a building with the jail. The Tories previously said the facility, built in 1917, was no longer up to code.
Manitoba Justice Minister Matt Wiebe gestures during a press conference at Brandon City Hall on Friday morning. Wiebe said the modern upgrades at the Dauphin courthouse have made it a safer and more welcoming place. (Matt Goerzen/The Brandon Sun)
The modern upgrades have made it a safer and more welcoming place, NDP Justice Minister Matt Wiebe said at an unrelated news conference in Brandon on Friday.
“A major priority for our government is improving access to justice,” Wiebe said.
“The community stood up, and they said, ‘We want a proper facility to be able to administer justice,’ and they pushed back, and that’s why we now were able to open the courthouse,” he said.
The renovations included more holding cells, enhanced security, accessibility improvements, better video-conferencing, more offices and meeting spaces for lawyers and their clients.
The total cost to upgrade the Dauphin courthouse came to about $15 million. The PCs originally put out an $11-million tender in 2021 for the project construction management, awarded to Bockstael Construction, but spent an additional $4 million when material and labour costs increased due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Tories’ decision to close the jail for the courthouse expansion was considered a controversial move and was opposed by the NDP opposition and former Dauphin mayor Allen Dowhan, who said the city wasn’t consulted about the proposed closure.
The Brandon Sun reached out to the current Dauphin mayor, but didn’t receive a response before press time.
Wiebe said the jail’s closure left a hole in the services provided in Dauphin, but the province is “fast-tracking” the process to get shovels in the ground for the community’s new Centre for Justice.
The Manitoba government also announced $33,000 in grants to support law enforcement and crime prevention initiatives in the Parkland region through the 2025-26 Criminal Property Forfeiture Fund.
RCMP in Ste. Rose du Lac will receive $13,800 to buy crates to transport police dogs and $18,500 for a pilot project to purchase 10 ceremonial dress uniforms for the Ebb and Flow First Nation Safety Officer program, the news release said.
RCMP in Winnipegosis will receive $1,350 for the Little Muddy Waters Métis Local — a community centre — to host a police academy for adults, the release said.
Agriculture Minister Ron Kostyshyn said in the release that these investments reflect the province’s commitment to making communities safer and a justice system that serves people with dignity and fairness.
» tadamski@brandonsun.com, with files from Skye Anderson