Amidst an ongoing housing crisis in Ross River, the future of six Yukon government (YG) staff housing units in the community remains unconfirmed.

Pauline Frost is the minister responsible for the Yukon Housing Corp.

She told the legislature Wednesday that when Yukon government employees move into a new government-funded residence, the old units “are going to be designated to the Ross River Dena Council (RRDC), and we are working with them to ensure that this happens.”

However, when pressed to confirm this comment by reporters after question period, Frost would not repeat the commitment.

Cabinet spokesperson Janine Workman told local media in an email Wednesday that a final decision about the future plan for the units had not been made.

“It is certainly the preference of the minister that this existing housing is designated to the RRDC and she has asked the Yukon Housing Corporation to evaluate ways of doing so,” Workman said in a follow-up email this morning.

The RRDC is unwilling to comment on the situation at this time, a spokesperson told the Star yesterday.

A year ago today, the Yukon Liberal Party released a statement regarding the housing situation in Ross River as having reached “emergency proportions.”

“This situation didn’t happen overnight – housing in Ross River has been an issue for decades and has been allowed to deteriorate to this crisis point due to lack of funding and an unwillingness by the Yukon government to make this a priority,” Carl Sidney, the Liberal candidate for Pelly-Nisutlin, said in the statement.

The majority of housing in Ross River is technically the responsibility of the federal government – the RRDC is an Indian Act band and therefore receives funding through Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC).

Money for housing

Despite that, the Yukon Liberals pledged money for housing in the community in its 2017-2018 budget.

Frost told reporters she has been to Ross River three times as Health and Social Services Minister and as the minister responsible for the housing corporation.

Community Services Minister John Streicker and Highways and Public Works Minister Richard Mostyn have also made the 400-plus kilometre drive to the community, according to Frost.

“We’ve taken a lot of time as a government to work and find the solutions with the Ross River Dena Council,” she said.

“Good faith discussions, respectful dialogue.”

In October 2016, RRDC Chief Jack Caesar penned a letter to Yukon political party leaders calling for “immediate and sustained help from the Yukon and Canadian government to address the current emergency housing crisis affecting the health of many of our people.”

An environmental site assessor contracted by the RRDC in 2016 found mould, rot, and leaking roofs in many of the band homes in Ross River. He recommended that 27 of the 146 homes be razed to the ground.

Multiple challenges contribute to the Ross River housing problem. Those include permafrost that requires frequent building levelling and the lack of a rental regime and preventative maintenance program.

Construction on the new YG staff housing will be completed in December, according to Workman.

The six units that will be vacated when staff move out are in a “satisfactory rentable state,” Workman said.

Building the new staff housing, for which the Liberal government provided $2.4 million, is part of YG’s staff recruitment and retention strategy, Frost said.

The new housing build was first proposed by the previous Yukon Party government in April 2016. It allocated $3 million for the project.

“We will not ever walk away from any one of our communities,” Frost said.

“We’ll put the time in, we’ll put the resources in to help the maximize the resources they currently have. So that’s where we are.”