Though it has no mandate to provide social services, the city will continue to work alongside the Whitehorse Youth Coalition as it pursues an emergency youth shelter in the capital city, says Mayor Bev Buckway.

Buckway was among those who attended a Whitehorse Youth Coalition meeting Thursday evening about the proposed shelter.

Both she and Yukon Liberal Leader Arthur Mitchell said they were pleased to see between 15 and 20 teenagers there. They were all wondering if a shelter would be in place by the time the colder winter weather hits the territory.

'They're telling us they want a building somewhere they can put a cot,' Buckway said in an interview this morning.

Many of the youth have a permanent address, but need a safe place to go on certain nights when there are problems at home such as substance abuse, Buckway said.

'Sometimes, that address is not a safe address,' she noted.

It creates a challenge for the youth coalition, though, in coming up with the numbers and proving the need for an emergency shelter for youth, which the territorial government has asked for from the group, Mitchell said today.

'They need a place to crash that's safe,' he said, noting the dangers many youth face in couch-surfing.

There have been cases, he pointed out, where youth have been offered a place to stay in exchange for sex.

While the Whitehorse Youth Coalition is working with non-governmental organizations, first nations and the Yukon government on plans for a permanent shelter, at last night's meeting, the need for a temporary plan for the winter was stressed by many, said Buckway and Mitchell.

'There's all kinds of possibilities,' Mitchell said of an interim solution for the winter.

Prior to the establishment of the Kaushee's Place women's shelter, he noted, there was a series of safe houses in place where women could stay.

The possibilities of setting up cots at the Whitehorse Boys and Girls Club, the Blue Feather Youth Centre or in a trailer were also discussed, Mitchell commented.

With about 15 non-governmental organizations working with the Whitehorse Youth Coalition on the project, staff from each of the groups could potentially each donate a few hours' staff time each week to the temporary shelter, Mitchell said.

The comments coming from the youth on the need for having a temporary shelter set up for this winter seemed especially important after Buckway had acted as one of 20 facilitators during Challenge Day at F.H. Collins Secondary School earlier on Thursday.

The program, offered by a non-profit organization from California, is designed to break down barriers and improve communication and respect among students through games, activities and discussions.

The 120 Grade 8 students at F.H. Collins took part in Thursday's events, with another 10 youth facilitators coming from the higher grades at the school.

One of the most powerful exercises Buckway saw at the event happened when a blue line was placed down the middle of the school's gym.

Facilitators then asked anyone who had been affected by drug or alcohol abuse at home to cross the line.

Then those of first nations or Metis ancestry were asked to cross the line, followed by those of particular religions and so on.

Each time students crossed the line, Buckway could notice their surprise at seeing others they hadn't expected coming along with them. It seemed to give them a sense that they weren't walking alone on some of the issues they deal with.

'It sure opened my eyes,' she said of finding out what some of the issues faced by youth in the city.

After her day at F.H. Collins, as she heard the concerns of youth wanting an emergency shelter in place, Buckway said she thought: 'Yep, that sure makes sense to me.'

The city will work with the coalition on finding out the zoning for any prospective shelter locations along with anything that may need to be done for building inspections, she said.

The mayor noted there will also need to be work done to gain the support and acceptance from the public for the shelter and whatever location is chosen.

'It'll be an issue,' she said, pointing out there can often be a bit of the Not In My Backyard syndrome from area residents when it comes to locations for shelters.

In the long term, Mitchell said, the aim is to have 12 beds available for use at the shelter.

'The numbers are going to fluctuate,' he said.

While there could be nights where all the beds would be full, there would likely be other nights where only three are in use, Mitchell said.

The Liberal leader was also critical of what he deemed as the Yukon Party government's lack of action on the shelter. With the budgetary surplus position the territory has been in, he added, there's no reason not to provide funding.

'It's just inexcusable.'

The More Than a Roof implementation plan estimated a cost of $400,000 to operate a 12-bed emergency youth shelter seven nights a week.

Pointing out the territory found the money to host the Canada Winter Games, Mitchell argued it would likely only take a portion of one per cent of the territorial budget to fund an emergency shelter for youth.

NDP MLA Steve Cardiff, who was on hand for the first part of the meeting, also stressed the need to have a shelter in place quickly.

'This is a crisis, in my mind,' he said late this morning, arguing action must be taken before some youth are forced to spend another winter couch surfing. 'This has been studied time and time again.'

The territorial government now needs to provide funding for a facility, he said. The government never put so much studying into establishing a hospital because the need was evident, he added.

All a person has to do to see the need for a youth shelter is to look down a city street, the Mount Lorne MLA said.