Burnaby residents speak out against Willingdon pretrial centre

More than 300 people showed up at a community meeting in Burnaby on Monday to voice outrage about a B.C. government proposal to buildthe new Lower Mainland Pretrial Centre on Willingdon Avenue.

The Solicitor General's office said the new high-security facility will be used mainly to house those awaiting trial or other court appearances at Lower Mainland courthouses.

But one by one, the residents spoke out in anger, saying there was no public consultation from the provincial government.

"Were you consulted about this prison? No!" Elizabeth Robertson told the crowd.

"This has been a very stable, family neighborhood, I've been here for 35 years or so and it's gotten only better, but to bring an element like this in with no kind of consultation, no, no information from the government, this just came out in August apparently."

Larry Hayes, a Burnaby school district trustee, echoed Robertson's concerns.

"I don't think, as many people don't think, that this is the right location for that kind of a facility," he said.

"I know the types of people that are in remand centres. I know what happens to people after they come out ofremand centres. They're punted out the back door," said Hayes.

"These are going to be people that don't have a lot of resources, and are, for the most part, going to be desperate.And those are the people that are going to be let out in the community."

Centralized location is cost effective

John Nuraney, the Liberal MLA for Burnaby-Willingdon, told the meeting he doesn't believe there will be any security issues at the high-security facility, but was shouted down when he tried to make his point.

"I've come here, respecting you guys, and I expect the same kind of respect when I'm speaking," he said.

But instead, members of the audience shouted, "Start telling the truth."

Construction on the site at the southwest corner of Willingdon Avenue and Canada Way in Burnaby close to a B.C.Institute of Technology campus isplanned to start in 2010, with completion in 2012.

The provincial government has said it needs the facility to deal with overcrowding in the two other pretrial facilities in the Lower Mainland, which are already operating above 200 per cent of capacity.

The 16-hectare site was selected because the centralized location close to Highway 1 provides the best road access for transporting inmates to courthouses across the Lower Mainland.

The land, which is already owned by the government, has been used for 50 years as a site for correctional facilities and other government facilities, meaning there will be no financing, zoning or environmental hurdles, according to the province.

The Burnaby Youth Detention Centre, which operated on the site until 2007, is scheduled to be demolished in 2009 to make room for the new facility.

Other provincial organizations offering health and addiction services also have facilities on the Willingdon site, said the province.