A contentious downtown community conversation took place Tuesday evening in Whitehorse.
The public meeting was intended to address the numerous safety concerns surrounding the Whitehorse Emergency Shelter at 405 Alexander St. and the downtown area in general.
Upwards of 50 people were in attendance at the Sternwheeler Hotel – although detractors at the meeting commented that many of them were officials who were paid to be there.
Laura Lang from the Yukon Housing Corp. spoke about increasing housing supports, including those for seniors at Normandy Living, located in the Takhini subdivision.
She cited the 18-unit building at 408 Alexander St. – which she admitted isn’t working.
Lang later came under fire for what her critics said was an approach of trying to deal with the overall situation at 408 Alexander, as opposed to solving the problems by dealing effectively with a few problem individuals.
Once the floor was opened up for questions, Sue Greetham spoke about the “catch and release” philosophy of the justice system, which she said always seems to be dealing with the same repeat offenders.
Tracy Delaware, a downtown resident and rental property owner, was one of the most vocal people at the meeting. She questioned whether all the support people in place are acting as enablers for people addicted to drugs and alcohol.
“There’s a fine line between help and enabling ,and it’s looking a little bit like enabling right now.”
Delaware also accused the support people of practising the “definition of insanity” (doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results).
She spoke to The Yukon Star after the meeting.
“The people who are here who are concerned about danger, health and welfare, about being able to sleep at night; I don’t think they’re talking about 120 people. I think they’re talking about the same ones over and over again who have no interest in changing whatever they’re doing,” Delaware said.
“Maybe we need to offer the people something different.”
One member of the business community spoke out about people having come into his business and being charged with minor offences – charges which were later dropped.
“If we don’t do anything with minor charges, then it becomes a lawless zone because our laws no longer matter,” the business owner said.
He also suggested there should be a trespassing law put in place to allow business owners to ban problem people from their property, adding no such law currently exists.
One of the most interesting speakers was a man identifying himself as Matthew, who said he is a former cancer survivor who has been in the territory for 14 months. Matthew said he was forced to stay in the shelter twice.
“Public money is enabling the problems. They are giving them money for the drugs and alcohol, they are feeding the addictions, and they have created a health industry to babysit the addicts and alcoholics,” Matthew said.
“You are never supporting anybody by putting a crack pipe in their hand for free. It is absolutely disgusting, with all due respect, what is going on in that shelter, let alone with public money.”
Matthew said the shelter is not properly monitored and the rules are not enforced.
“I’ve gone in there after five months of being away in the winter and I’ve seen people whose health is even worse. Why? Drugs and alcohol. (There are) one or two in there whose lives are now better, and not addicted.”
Matthew added, “You will not solve homelessness until you solve addiction to drugs and alcohol.”
Jill Aalus, Blood Ties’ executive director, said they’ve saved more than 80 people from overdoses at the Safe Consumption Site at 6189 Sixth Ave. She said they also broke a record with 221 visits two days ago at the site.
“It’s really busy. We really believe in a supportive approach and that’s how we try to operate.”
Speaking with The Yukon Star afterward, Aalus said they have done some surveys and have hired a contracted evaluator, and are planning on compiling a report to measure the results and effectiveness of their services.
Alas also emphasized that they want to be good neighbours to the area’s businesses, and have suffered acts of vandalism themselves.
Safe at Home executive director Kate Mechan criticized the term “catch and release,” calling it dehumanizing.
Cameron Grandy, YG’s director of Mental Wellness and Substance Use Services, gave an update on his department’s efforts to deal with the complex issues.
Speaking with the Star afterward, Grandy said he thought the meeting was good.
“It was great to hear from the community. It was a tense issue. We’re going to hear tense emotions and expressions around it.”
Asked how he felt about people stating the downtown area isn’t safe, Grandy replied, “I can’t comment on how people perceive the downtown. It just makes me want to make sure that we’re creating the programs for all the population.”
Asked if his programs are effective, he responded, “Yes.”
Grandy was also asked how results of the programs are measured. He referred the Star to communications staff for information on their programs and the results of those programs.
Grandy was then asked if there’s a way to measure results.
“Is there a way to measure whether somebody feels better? Yes. They tell you they feel better.
We have different results and data that we pull.”
Omi Levins stated during the meeting that the downtown situation is getting worse.
Speaking with the Star after the session, she said she lived at the emergency shelter in 2018 when it was known as The Centre of Hope.
She said she is an active member of Voices of Hope, whose website states, “We believe in the power of sharing your lived experience to create positive change.”
“I can see both sides of many things, but what I personally see right now, is that the situation is polarizing even more, and we have worsening situations,” Levins said.
Levins spoke of an encounter she had with people in tents near the Pioneer Hotel.
“I didn’t feel safe enough to go back there that way. They were yelling at me. This isn’t the Whitehorse that I grew up in.”
Attendees were given an update on progress made on the Downtown Whitehorse Safety Response Action Plan, including:
• $3 milllion allocated for on-the-land treatment;
• extended funding to Safe at Home as part of the Winter Housing Strategy;
• private security services hired to support businesses around Alexander Street during certain evenings;
• the Moccasin Mobile Outreach Initiative operationalized;
• extended hours at the Supervised Consumption Site at Blood Ties Four Directions;
• an outreach worker assigned to the Whitehorse Public Library;
• a recently announced partnership with Blood Ties to extend and enhance its Healthy Meals Program;
and, perhaps most significantly, a letter of intent has been signed with Yukon First Nations and the federal government to build a Yukon First Nations Healing Centre.
A number of medium-term solutions were also listed in a document handed out.
RCMP Staff-Sgt. Jill McLaren delivered some numbers on the RCMP’s activities around 405 Alexander St., the shelter at the centre of the issues that have plagued the area for the last several years.
She said they’ve focused on scheduled patrols in the downtown area, logging 120 patrols since that initiative began in May.
Car 867, which partners a nurse and an RCMP member, continues to be kept busy. The program has added another member and is now operating seven days a week.
City bylaw officer Colin Laforme also spoke about downtown safety. He said they’ve been focusing on the downtown core and working with businesses on graffiti removal. They also work with the RCMP on patrolling the Alexander Street area.
