Canada's top court to hear Acadian Peninsula courthouse closure case

Canada's top court to hear Acadian Peninsula courthouse closures case

Mayors group alleged N.B. government's closure of northeast courthouses violated language rights

Canada's top court announced Thursday it will hear a case alleging the closure of courthouses in northeast New Brunswick violated the language rights of francophones.

The case stems from the provincial government closing Caraquet and Tracadie courthouses in 2022.

The closure was challenged by a group of mayors through an organization called Forum des maires de la Péninsule acadienne Inc.

"It's a small victory this morning where the Supreme Court has agreed to listen to our case," Bernard Thériault, mayor of Caraquet and chair of the Forum, said in an interview Thursday.

The Higgs government carried out the closures, arguing that the two courts were hearing a small and declining number of cases and that it would be more efficient to hear those cases in Bathurst.

The Forum sought a judicial review of the closures, arguing the provincial government's decision violated sections of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms that guarantee the rights of anglophone and francophone New Brunswickers to their own educational and cultural institutions.

It alleged the province didn't consider linguistic rights, led to police having to be away from their coverage areas for longer and to job losses.

"They have dismantled a unit where you could — as a prosecutor, as a typist, as a lawyer — operate totally in French," Thériault said.

In 2024, Court of King's Bench Justice Christa Bourque ruled the changes were made without considering the linguistic rights of the francophone community. The decision instructed the government to revisit the decision.

The Court of Appeal in 2025 overturned that ruling. The Appeal Court ruled the lower court judge had not established a link between the linguistic rights and the arguments made by the mayors.

The decision said the Charter "does not guarantee the absence of geographical obstacles, nor unlimited access to local judicial services at all times."

The mayors group appealed to the top court, which on Thursday announced it would hear the case.

CBC News has requested a comment from the provincial government.

Still hopes for negotiated settlement

As is standard, the court didn't offer reasons for deciding to hear the case.

The top court only hears a select number of cases of national importance.

"So this is a great victory in that sense," Thériault said.

It's not known when the court will actually hear the case.

Thériault said he still wants a negotiated resolution instead of continuing the legal fight.

"So rather than spending money and time at the Supreme Court, we're telling them call Bernard Thériault, the chair of the Forum des maires, and we'll discuss to reopen our services in the peninsula," he said.

Shane Magee is a Moncton-based reporter for CBC News.