Bob Mackin
Unlike hotel rooms, nearly all B.C. Supreme Court rooms in the Lower Mainland will be empty during FIFA World Cup 26.
B.C. Chief Justice Ron Skolrood (B.C. Courts)
Chief Justice Ronald Skolrood announced July 7 that there be no criminal trials or civil jury trials in Vancouver, New Westminster, Abbotsford or Chilliwack from June 12-July 8, 2026 due to public safety, traffic and crowd control measures that require police and B.C. Sheriff Service resources.
Preliminary judgment
“Downtown Vancouver and other areas of the Lower Mainland may see heavy traffic congestion,” Skolrood wrote. “Hotel rooms may be difficult to secure for deliberating juries or for out-of-town witnesses. The full extent of the impacts is uncertain and will remain so for some time.”
Skolrood said the courts will handle urgent matters and emergency hearings during the period when seven matches will be played at B.C. Place Stadium.
FIFA’s contract with City of Vancouver requires a large portion of downtown around the stadium must be closed to public vehicle traffic on each match day and each day prior to a match. A fan festival running for the duration of the tournament will take place in and around the new Freedom Mobile Arch PNE Amphitheatre.
Big house inside the big house
A temporary jail will be built inside B.C. Place Stadium.
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The hosting requirements handbook, obtained by theBreaker.news, said each of the 16 venues requires an on-site security post, police station, police authority briefing room for at least 30 officers and a police detention facility.
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“At each stadium, at least one detention facility shall be installed in accordance with the local requirements,” the handbook said.
Law Courts Vancouver (Joe Mabel)
Waiting for fed funds
B.C. Pavilion Corp. revealed another section to theBreaker.news of the January 2022 stadium contract with FIFA during the ongoing adjudication through the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner.
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It states that the stadium must provide safety and security certificates to FIFA from relevant authorities no later than Sept. 30.
“The government and the competent governmental authorities of the host country will be responsible for the overall safety and security of the competition in the host country, including the development and implementation of a detailed and comprehensive overall safety and security concept in relation to hosting and staging the competition.”
Why it matters: Public Safety Canada has not revealed the overall security budget for Vancouver and Toronto’s participation in the World Cup.
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The NDP government’s June budget update, estimating hosting could be as much as $624 million, said the province, City of Vancouver and Vancouver International Airport Authority “anticipate that the federal government will be a full partner in helping to manage and fund extraordinary risks that materialize for the FIFA World Cup 26 event, such as potential global economic downturns, natural disasters like fires and floods and increasing threat levels from rising geopolitical tensions.”
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