Articles & News

August 21, 2008

Announcement shocks mayor, upsets neighbour

Brooke Larsen, burnabynow.com

A new remand facility in Burnaby will ease crowding in B.C. prisons, the provincial government said Friday.

The province plans to replace the former youth detention centre on Willingdon Avenue with a new "state-of-the-art" remand facility by 2012.

John Nuraney, Liberal MLA for Burnaby Willingdon, said B.C. jails are "crammed" due to record inmate counts.

"We have tightened up the criminal justice system, so there's more people being jailed," Nuraney said Monday.

The proposed facility will sit on a portion of the Willingdon property, a 16-hectare site that's zoned for institutional buildings. According to the province, correctional services have existed on the site since 1954.

Nuraney said the facility will hold inmates awaiting bail and other hearings, and stays will average 54 days.

The facility will resemble one in Port Coquitlam that looks like "a high-tech office building," Nuraney said, adding the facility will be "extremely secure."

The province still wants to consult with the City of Burnaby, the public and neighbours in the nearby Discovery Park area.

The plans didn't sit well with Parvin Chami, a Discovery Park resident and Block Watch captain for the upscale neighbourhood.

"We do not want another jail here," Chami said in an interview Monday.

Chami said several escapees from the former youth detention centre broke into nearby homes.

"These guys would escape, and the first place they would go is our houses," Chami said, adding she's worried it will happen again.

"We are not in favour of this," Chami said.

Mayor Derek Corrigan said he was shocked to hear Friday's announcement. Corrigan said the city has discussed several options for the Willingdon site with the province, including transitional housing and the expansion of BCIT.

"You could have knocked me over with a feather," Corrigan said in an interview Monday.

"One of the things that was never on the table was a remand facility."

Corrigan also said he didn't know whether he would support plans for the remand centre because he didn't have enough information.

A news release from the province states that B.C.'s correctional facilities had a record remand count of 1,489 earlier this month, up 76 per cent from five years ago.

On. Aug. 7, B.C.'s nine correctional centres had a record total of 2,883 inmates. Since April 1, these centres have housed an average daily total of 2,814 inmates, up from last year's average daily total of 2,668.

"The provincial inmate count - including people held pending court processing - is at a record high, with further growth expected," Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General John van Dongen said in the release.

blarsen@burnabynow.com