The Town of Virden is making another attempt to get its court office staffed and re-opened.
The office was closed by the Provincial Justice Department last August, and it remains closed with many of its functions being performed in Brandon.
Last month, three representatives from the Town (Mayor Jeff McConnell, Councillor Tina Williams and CAO Rhonda Stewart) met with an official from Manitoba Justice and two court officers from Brandon to discuss the issue and, as McConnell said, to “impress upon them just how important the Virden office is to Westman.”
All SW Man. affected
McConnell said the point they wanted to make was this isn’t just a Virden inconvenience and that residents from all across the southwest region used the court office for a variety of needs.
“Police officers need to swear certain documents in front of a magistrate. There are traffic tickets and fines that have to be paid. Local businesses relied on the office to collect on bad debts in small claims court. None of this can be done in southwest Manitoba any more.”
McConnell gave the example of an individual paying a speeding ticket in installments. When the due date arrived, they couldn’t pay it in Virden so had to find someone in Brandon to pay it on their behalf to avoid missing the deadline.
“It’s not proper delivery of justice to our region,” said McConnell.
No applicants
The Mayor had expressed concerns last year that the office might never re-open.
He now reports that the Justice Department official who met with them said it’s still the government’s intention to fill the vacancy and reopen the office.
The problem, said McConnell, is nobody is applying for the job.
McConnell said neither he nor they understand why the lack of interest, but they plan to do more local advertising in the hopes of attracting qualified applicants.
