DONALEE MOULTON HALIFAX
Nova Scotia’s miners, loggers,
and fishermen all work in dangerous jobs. So to do those who work
in the court system, contend the
province’s Crown attorneys, who
are taking formal action to have
their concerns addressed.
The Nova Scotia Crown Attor-
neys’ Association has filed an offi-
cial complaint with the Labour
and Workforce Development
In an inter-
view with The
Lawyers Weekly
he noted that,
“We felt we had
enough evi-
dence and enough examples to
show our workplace was unsafe.”
That growing list includes a
16-year-old girl who last year
smuggled a flip knife inside her
vagina into the Halifax Provincial
Courthouse and used it to attack a
22-year-old woman in the build-
ing. More recently, what one
Crown attorney called a “mini-
riot” broke out at the provincial
court in Dartmouth.
“People were fighting all over
the place, yelling, screaming and
fighting,” Crown Prosecutor
Roland Levesque told The Chronicle Herald.
The fracas, which involved
upwards of 30 people, broke out
following the sentencing of a
22-year-old man on weapons
charges. A review of the situation
is pending.
These are not isolated occurrences. Since 2007, there have
been 88 serious incidents in the
Halifax courthouse. These have
taken place in cells, common
areas and courtrooms. But it is
not only the Halifax and Dartmouth courtrooms that are
unsafe, according to Woodburn,
although the complaint specifically targets these facilities as a
test case.
“It applies to all courthouses,”
Woodburn said. “They are getting
more violent.”
Fred Hildebrand, director of
sheriff services with the Depart-
ment of Justice, is not sure if there
are actually more situations today
than in the past or if they are just
receiving more attention. How-
ever, he said, “There have been
several significant incidents. Some
Woodburn
“There are procedures in place
to protect people,” he added.
The complaint is the final straw
for the province’s 85 Crown attorneys, 39 of whom are assigned to
the Halifax and Dartmouth
courts. “The matter has been
ongoing for several years with
respect to courthouse security,”
said Woodburn.
It came to a head in October
2008, he noted, after a string of
incidents in Halifax spotlighted
the issue. In response, the government installed metal detectors at the courthouse, but this is
the only one in the province with
this equipment. Since the detectors have been installed more
than 1600 weapons — including
brass knuckles, bear spray, box
cutters, and syringes — have
been confiscated.
Nova Scotia’s lack of security
puts prosecutors here in an
unusually dangerous position,
said Woodburn. “We’re lagging
behind. Alberta boasts that 90 per
cent of its courtrooms have metal
detectors. In Ontario, they have
what are called docks to protect
the prosecutor.”
Hildebrand believes the court-
houses in the province are safe.
“We train our sheriffs to identify
risks and respond accordingly,” he
said, noting that the technology is
also being enhanced, including
the installation of panic buttons,
and ongoing training, communi-
cations and security protocols are
helping to ensure a safer environ-
ment for everyone.
Nova Scotia’s prosecutors,
however, are tired of waiting for
the government to take substantive action. In 2008, the government did agree to review security
throughout the province and set
up committees in each community with a courthouse to explore
the issues and make recommendations. Those committees
included lawyers, judges, and
sheriffs, who provide security at
the courthouses. (Sheriffs also
wear bulletproof vests.)
The following year a report was
handed over to the government.
“That report detailed the need for
perimeter security including x-ray
machines and metal detectors,”
said Woodburn.
That report has, apparently,
also sat on the shelf. Crown
attorneys want it, or at least the
issue, dusted off. “We’ve agreed
to discussing this. We’ve agreed
to committees. We’re literally
going to study this to death,” said
Woodburn.
Perhaps literally. Woodburn is
quick to point out that although
the occupational health and
safety complaint has been filed by
the province’s Crown prosecutors, they are not the only ones
who are at risk. “It’s under our
See Security Page 8
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE COURTS OF NOVA SCOTIA
The Halifax Provincial Courthouse in the heart of the city, where it still stands, heard its first trial in October 1860. Now,
150 years later, Crown Attorneys contend it is an unsafe workplace.
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