Will Batshaw Family Services succeed in going ahead with plans to build a locked facility for young offenders in Dorval?
The answer to that question now rests with the Supreme Court of Canada. The country’s highest court will decide whether to hear a challenge filed by the city of Dorval to a lower court ruling that has given the green light to the social services agency to build what is essentially a jail for juvenile offenders in the commercial and residential heart of the municipality.
It’s an interesting case that has been almost 10 years in the making. And it is one that many municipalities in the country will be watching.
There are many issues involved in the dossier: zoning, access, neighbours’ rights, safety, a municipality’s right to impose restrictions. And then there is the big picture: How does a society attempt to rehabilitate not only juveniles who have broken the law, but youths who, due to a wide range of circumstances, have fallen victim to abuse, neglect and exploitation?
I would like to raise two questions for discussion:
1. Both functions – rehabilitating juveniles who have broken the law and those who have suffered some form of abuse – are important services. But why do we need to lump them together in one facility?
2. Why does either of these services have to be provided in the centre of town?
The second question is raised because as this case has developed, the city of Dorval has attempted to work with Batshaw to find an alternative location for the agency’s locked facility, but negotiations have failed.
One final note. If either of the answers to these questions comes down to money, and more precisely, the lack thereof, perhaps that is what this public debate should be about.
I look forward to your comments.