What could have been — old visions and plans for Ottawa

[acottawa]

Originally Posted by phil235

Exactly. Government precincts tend to be built very incrementally, so I don't think anyone can write off this being built in the future. There will come a time when someone decides that a federal court building makes more sense that continuing to operate in leased office space (which is pretty painful from a security perspective and not very accessible to the public).

I have wondered if the renos to the West Memorial Building for the Supreme Court have left open the possibility of using it for the Federal Court once the Supreme Court moves back. It probably wouldn't have enough courtrooms, but I wonder how easily that could be fixed.

While I admire your optimism, 17 Prime Ministers have declined to build the sacred triad. One of those PMs decided to build it, but only after being in office 8 years and being clearly on his way out.

The trial division federal court largely functions as a circuit court with hearings across the country and conducts many of its hearings virtually. Building a large courthouse for a circuit court doesn’t make a lot of sense. This isn’t like the US where terrorism, drug offences or other serious crimes are heard in federal court.