Photo by Whitehorse Star
ADDRESS THE ISSUES, COUNCIL URGED – More must be done to solve the problems happening around the Whitehorse Emergency Shelter on Alexander Street, city council was told Monday evening.
People feel unsafe around shelter, council told
More needs to be done to create a positive and sober atmosphere at the Whitehorse Emergency Shelter on Alexander Street, city council heard Monday evening from a man who works in the area.
More needs to be done to create a positive and sober atmosphere at the Whitehorse Emergency Shelter on Alexander Street, city council heard Monday evening from a man who works in the area.
David Jennings told council that since the Yukon government took over the former Centre of Hope shelter from the Salvation Army in January 2019, there’s been more on-site alcohol and drug consumption.
People do not feel safe around the shelter, said Jennings.
He said he works in the area and was assaulted 2 1/2 months ago, adding he’s had clients ask him to walk them to their vehicles.
A greater RCMP presence, officers on foot patrol using a soft hand approach, would help, he said.
As most of the users of the shelter are of First Nations origin, Jennings suggested, the Kwanlin Dun First Nation could have a greater presence, again using a soft-hand approach to help out people.
As the Yukon government has designated the shelter as a safe consumption site since taking over it over from the Salvation Army, things have gotten worse, he told council.
When the Sally Ann was operating the shelter, Jennings said, it was not so much of the social club it’s become, and a place where some people go to drink and do drugs.
The goings-on at the shelter cause visitors and tourists to stay away from the neighbourhood, he said.
Jennings said the fellow who assaulted him was told to stay away for two weeks, as his punishment.
Having a greater presence of city bylaw officers would also be a benefit, he told council.
Jennings said he does not have statistical data, but others have agreed with him that the amount of crime and disturbance has increased since the government took it over and designated it as a safe consumption site.
The RCMP’s superintendent told him they spend a lot of money responding to issues at the shelter, which is why having officers walk the beat in the area would be another benefit, he said.
Jennings said it’s not uncommon to see multiple emergency response vehicles at the facility.
The problem is when the RCMP respond to a call in four to seven minutes, the individual creating the problem runs out of there – and the police can’t find the individual.
Having a greater RCMP presence would dissuade the action to begin with, he said.
People using the shelter, said Jennings, disrespect the area by constantly leaving behind garbage and broken glass.
As well, people are living in the green space at the rear of the shelter, he told council.
Every morning, every lunch hour and every evening, he said, he has to walk by the shelter because of where he parks; otherwise, he’d be feeding a parking meter.
If individuals are bona fide users of the shelter, he told council, give them the opportunity to make things better for themselves instead of drinking alcohol and doing drugs outside the facility.
Jennings said a greater effort by authorities to have a meaningful presence in the area would not only be a benefit to the clientele who use the shelter, but to the neighbourhood and surrounding businesses.
Several of those businesses have suffered vandalism and harassment of their customers since the shelter opened.
Connective, in partnership with the Council of Yukon First Nations, is scheduled to begin operating the shelter on Oct. 1.
Connective is formerly known as the John Howard Society.
Add your comments or reply via Twitter @whitehorsestar
In order to encourage thoughtful and responsible discussion, website comments will not be visible until a moderator approves them. Please add comments judiciously and refrain from maligning any individual or institution. Read about our user comment and privacy policies.
Your name and email address are required before your comment is posted. Otherwise, your comment will not be posted.
Comments (64)
Up 13 Down 1
Mitch on Jul 24, 2022 at 7:56 pm
@NO QUICK FIX - I appreciate your words, some compassion there. Like you recognize that despite my objections to what has not worked (at least in this specific situation), my compassion is as real as anyone's, as an addict, as the judgemental people in this forum, or as the professional who try to help the broken. The last time I saw my father, he had escaped downtown Van to near Stanley Park, got disability after battling for decades for it. Suffers a degenerative disc disorder in his neck, head is falling over. Known to disappear for over a decade at a time. He was released from mental health into the streets in the early 2000s to navigate the East Side like a stray animal. I lost his whereabouts at the onset of the Pandemic; I do not know if he survives, I already thought he was dead for years before he found me on FB a couple years ago. Authourities in VPD and street level investigators via Salvation Army in Lower Mainland certainly concluded so. Not a saint, this man, but not an animal either. I do not have the resources to find him, care for him and that is a consequence of some past relations and some big mistakes. Because of him, I have NEVER allowed myself to be pulled into an addiction. I thank him for that, I pray he's ok, one of the toughest f**king men I ever met. Yeah, I would provide consultation to reality, anytime.
Some people in here need to pull their heads out of their a** and look in the mirror. Judgement becomes your superiority complexities. Like I haven' t been one foot in this for 42 years... Like I wasn't robbed of a normal life by a failed parent addicted to drugs, who broke my family. I spoke from the heart as informed by the mind and the information available.
I really don't like people anymore. I don't think they like me either, but I have bigger problems, mostly, not turning to drugs to deal with living in this place as so many have and winding up at the Center for Hopelessness.
Heartless right wing **hole signing off, it's been futile Whitehorse Star, keep this open as long as you can.
Up 14 Down 4
Groucho d'North on Jul 24, 2022 at 2:44 pm
Observer’s comment got me to thinking about what we don’t see on the surface for us to judge. We don’t see the impacts of parents with habitual intoxication have on their children and others in the family. We don’t see the affects of money for food and household bills being spent on booze and the drug of the week. We don’t see the on-going costs of protecting these addicts from themselves. Unwanted pregnancies? Probably a few of them we don’t see, but we do see the FASD children produced. We also do not see the sexually transmitted diseases and medical care delivered. Shoplifting and B&Es to fund the cost of intoxicants? It seems nobody sees that going on.
There is probably much more under the surface of our social fabric that would appall citizens if they could see it themselves. This does not make the situation any more acceptable because it is out of sight and theoretically out of mind. Winos, down and outers, drunks and druggies or whatever other label we give them have solidified their social class and appear to be content with their lot in life and are not motivated to improve it. No jobs, no responsibilities and apparently no self-respect. Far from idyllic but it is the rut they dug for themselves and they appear to be content to wallow in it. But who am I to judge?
Up 9 Down 4
No quick fix on Jul 24, 2022 at 2:24 pm
I think CYFN / Connective taking over the shelter is good start, but many are kidding themselves thinking that is a quick fix, they will have a long way to go to manage the addiction problems in the territory. My journey with a loved one....45 days here not one follow up phone call after, did the stint and then nothing, we seemed to think we nipped it in the butt.. 1 semester at a college (not YT)...60 days out patient John Howard (not in YT), 90 Days inpatient gov't funded (not YT), 45 days (private) 30 days second stage housing private, 90 days on their own, 1 week gov't funded, 45 days private, 30 days second stage private, 30 days on their own, 45 days private, second stage private, now on their own. And my recovering addict knows with one phone call he can go back to any of these facilities and they will help.
With this whole journey the addict had to find a family doctor, a counselor for trauma , dedicated pharmacy to answer questions and understand addictions, and doctor to manage the addiction and a supportive non enabling family to help them along the way. We are not even close here to have support network for recovery for many, and each time set that person up for failure. I would welcome private facilities coming into the YT to offer different type of programs, and I would welcome the gov't maybe spending money on treatment vs money going into failed programs. The gov't, CYFN, Connective all need to sit down with the Mitch's, June's, Jane's , Been there done that folks, of the world and see what was working and what was not working. And of course have a few recovering addicts helping / working at these places along the way.
Up 7 Down 5
Mitch on Jul 23, 2022 at 8:00 pm
Observer - you mean, the way you just did in failing to express a statement too edgy for the likes of you? Let's unpack your ignorance, shall we.
"those who can't think beyond the surface, judge". Ok, you mean. Like you just did with that statement? Ok let's judge. YOU are probably younger than 30 and if you are not, you need to grow up. As we get older, we understand and recognize the need to say more and more clearly what it is we are trying to convey. Deep thought monoparagraphs like your statement, are for whino single moms. They have a computer at a university in the states that generates them and preys on those with low enough IQs to consume them.
And what about layout, are we pentrating the surface from outside or inside? Does a person suffering opioid withdrawals think, or judge? Actually they are assessing, everything, any means to get more.
Think I'm judging? You ever have to leave a room so you wouldn't kill your drugged up father? You ever nearly kill a friend slapping them awake because you didn't know what to do? You ever pull a needle out of someones arms because they fell asleep on it? You ever identify a loved one, frozen to a grate in a gutter? Oh right, you didn't look that deep into what you were typing. Last year, I could forgive that. This year... No, try again. Try harder.
Up 9 Down 2
Leroy Brown on Jul 23, 2022 at 7:57 pm
In response to Sourmoe on Jul 20, 2022 at 8:09 am:
Shhh! Your response is pile of nonsensical, wishful thinking. Drunks in neverland? Harm reduction is a failed social experiment.
Up 34 Down 3
DA on Jul 23, 2022 at 12:22 pm
The Center of Hope has become the Center of Dope.
Up 16 Down 5
Mitch and the problem of honesty… on Jul 23, 2022 at 11:25 am
Are you being serious? Observer on Jul 22, 2022 at 11:59 am
“Those that can't think beyond what they see on the surface, judge.”
This is the basis for “white privilege” and other anti-Caucasian sentiment as well as “ALL” other forms of racism - I agree! Liberals have become unhinged in their push for hierarchical identitarian intersectionalities and their precepts. “Yep, no need to make further inquiry here, just look at them, they ‘appear’ to be racist!”, said the White Liberal gaining political points from the diverse audience.
Bad Liberals, baaaddddd!!!!
Up 11 Down 8
Mitch on Jul 22, 2022 at 6:59 pm
I should clarify, I support Bloodties and have known several very valuable members of their staff over time. I could have also pointed that a social services building, porn store, liquor store, are also all within a block or two of an elementary school. I will also concede, in all SERIOUSNESS, that the social problems downtown predate the center for hopelessness and were the result of, unchecked organized crime, ineffectual law enforcement, ineffectual successive municipal and territorial governments and white priviledge development of downtown not at all in line with the diversity of our community, even then. Joe's Free pour became a lone 6 storey building, troubled patrons were refugeed on the downtown streets and WEF bike trails were aesthetically added to cover up this cities' abyssmal failure for over two decades.
But hey, at least Ontarians can call it home now, right? And as for those who complain about the offsales, that business has been nothing but patient and generous to that neighbourhood in general. Ytg liquor corp, in comparison, looks like an East German breadline.
That center is the biggest curse on this community in my life of 40 years in it. You want to change my mind, it won't be with sassy replies. No, you are going to have to go and volunteer there and your merit must be observed to improve things by actions, not words. For the 30 million plus price tag, you better read that twice. And for whatever it is worth, to the folks who call it home, we should Shut that center down and restructure it elsewhere. I would suggest the future city hall that never was, with a shuttle service, to prevent deaths from hypothermia for the inebriated freezing to death in city limits every winter. Keep a dry center downtown, strict, with an emphasis on family units and a wet center uphill, to remove the criminal elements from downtown and motivate the addicted to cease their self destruction. Dry, you stay downtown, wet, you're up the hill.
Addiction is one such primary driver of intergenerational trauma and I know this intimately from experience. I would not wish addiction on my worst enemy. Stop characterizing those who will not enable as villains, there are no villains and you don't know how many times they have failed with enablement in the past or what that cost each and every time, including lives that did not need to be lost.
Like, seriously.
Up 16 Down 5
Mitch on Jul 22, 2022 at 6:27 pm
@ no, but like, seriously - Bloodties l, at 409 Ogilvie, is a block and a half away, wow, way to specify. I used to cut pushsticks for them. You know, to clean crackpipes. One and a half blocks from an elementary school, about as far as your virtuous tax funded drugden. Stop talking.
At least the school will be moved within a block and a half of our correction center. We are going to destroy you in the next election.
Up 0 Down 4
Mitch on Jul 22, 2022 at 6:20 pm
@ Seriously - lone opinion says what?
Up 12 Down 4
Mitch on Jul 22, 2022 at 6:19 pm
Hey Jim, how many heavy smokers rob their communities, harm their families and overdose? Oh, I know it's a few, it just isn't valid compared to alcoholism or drug addictions, WHICH LITERALLY CHANGE A PERSONS THOUGHT PROCESS TO OBTAIN THE SUBSTANCE OF CHOICE AT ANY COST.
TRY HARDER.
Up 32 Down 9
Mitch on Jul 22, 2022 at 3:27 pm
So better - I can see how disgusting a failure is our "center for hope" with my own eyes. It looks like weekends in my childhood you would not have survived. My observations are well informed, we ask you shut your mouth, ignorant non partisan liability. Ps a real non partisan would not try to argue and defend the obvious. A liberal would though.
That place helps no one and enables everyone.
Up 4 Down 30
Observer on Jul 22, 2022 at 11:59 am
Those that can't think beyond what they see on the surface, judge.
Up 4 Down 19
@Mitch (from So Better…) on Jul 22, 2022 at 9:51 am
You make some bold assumptions about me, when you respectfully have NO idea of my political stripes (and for the record I am non partisan). Regardless, I don’t think you see the concern I am raising. Simply put, to “report” on one person addressing council when many of his opinions here are NOT factual, and without providing counterpoints or any fact checking is sloppy and irresponsible journalism. You seem intelligent enough from past comments, I don’t understand how you can’t see this. For example: he complains about a safe consumption site at WES. It would be life saving if there was but there simply isn’t one there. The Star did not do their homework here. It IS an embarrassment.
Up 2 Down 22
Jim on Jul 22, 2022 at 8:17 am
@sourmoe, smoking is an addiction as well. But we seem to be ok with people who smoke in non-smoking areas.
Up 24 Down 2
Max Mack on Jul 21, 2022 at 9:11 pm
The story claims that Connective was formerly known as the John Howard Society.
But, The John Howard Society still operates by that name. Their national website is here: https://johnhoward.ca/
So, who is Connective actually? I feel like there are pieces missing here . . .
Up 40 Down 1
drum on Jul 21, 2022 at 6:12 pm
What infuential family in this town owned the contamanated lot where the new Shelter sits. They managed to sell it. No one else would have managed that except you had to have pull. It should never have been downtown - it is a disgrace to this City.
Up 31 Down 5
What is in your grievance? on Jul 21, 2022 at 5:33 pm
At drum on Jul 20, 2022 at 9:10 pm:
Kids are resilient and adaptive. They just stay out of the sections on the merry-go-round that the drunks are passed out on. It makes hopscotch more challenging. I also heard that the kindergarten classes are hosting a needle exchange day at the school.
It’s pretty exciting to think that these kids are going to learn some tradable skills so that the next time there is a staffing shortage at WGH they can go in sterilize the hospital equipment.
This way they can work off their hormone suppressant or accelerant therapy for their preferred gender reassignment - Go Liberals go! And I think to myself… What a wonderful world…
Now, if we could only find a fix for the grievance culture! We’d all be so much happier!!!
Up 21 Down 5
Mitch on Jul 21, 2022 at 5:28 pm
Loved your comment Drum. Have heart, they are moving the school next to a correction facility, a big step up no? This is what your government thinks of your children. Future inmates. Imagine what they think of US now.
Up 18 Down 4
Kiss my blarney stones! on Jul 21, 2022 at 5:22 pm
Sorry Juniper Jackson on Jul 20, 2022 at 4:38 pm:
Solving the problem of crime is a ray-sissed endeavour. People must be told by their own kind that assault, sexual assault, and killing are not nice and that you probably shouldn’t do it.
So, for example, if you have an Irishman who has committed an assault on another Irishman then they must be told and programmed by another Irish person that assault is wrong. Of course, the Irish drink a lot so they will likely blame the alcohol.
Then there are the memes about the Irish who drink and fight as a way of life. They will need leprechauns who have backgrounds in counselling, river dancing, and Irish criminal recidivism to tackle this problem. This is the only way to curb this drunken debauchery of Irishness flowing into the streets of our city!
We need to come together and stop bashing our Irish brethren. Too long have they suffered in the holds of British Ships as slaves in years past but now figuratively through the prejudice of jokes, put downs, and slurs:
“The Most Recently Discovered Wild Beast” (1881) is one of a series of nineteenth-century images portraying the Irish as violent and subhuman. In the U.S. survey I use images of this sort when examining the history of anti-immigrant prejudice and its relationship to racism.
Native-born Americans criticized Irish immigrants for their poverty and manners, their supposed laziness and lack of discipline, their public drinking style, their catholic religion, and their capacity for criminality and collective violence. in both words and pictures, critics of the Irish measured character by perceived physical appearance.“
This prejudice was practiced in Canada too and Irish slaves were so little valued that they were often sold for a tenth of the price of slaves from Africa - No wonder though - Look at how they were mocked and described for their stereotypical behaviours.
Everybody hates the Irish and I am tired of this preference given to others who have suffered in prejudice while society does nothing to rectify the horrors of the Irish holocaust that almost eradicated the Irish population.
There are denialists everywhere. It’s not true, you’re just being a white supremacist - No, I can acknowledge many different horrors committed by the British without minimizing the horrors visited upon any particular ethnic group, race or culture.
Read: White Cargo
The Irish slave trade began when James VI sold 30,000 Irish prisoners as slaves to the New World. His Proclamation of 1625 required Irish political prisoners be sent overseas and sold to English settlers in the West Indies.
By the mid 1600s, the Irish were the main slaves sold to Antigua and Montserrat. At that time, 70% of the total population of Montserrat were Irish slaves.
Ireland quickly became the biggest source of human livestock for English merchants. The majority of the early slaves to the New World were actually white.
From 1641 to 1652, over 500,000 Irish were killed by the English and another 300,000 were sold as slaves. Ireland’s population fell from about 1,500,000 to 600,000 in one single decade.
Families were ripped apart as the British did not allow Irish dads to take their wives and children with them across the Atlantic. This led to a helpless population of homeless women and children. Britain’s solution was to auction them off as well.
During the 1650s, over 100,000 Irish children between the ages of 10 and 14 were taken from their parents and sold as slaves in the West Indies, Virginia and New England. In this decade, 52,000 Irish (mostly women and children) were sold to Barbados and Virginia.
The Irish slaves were a profitable enterprise in the old and new worlds. Drinking and fighting was all that they had.
Up 46 Down 2
Charlie's Aunt on Jul 21, 2022 at 2:40 pm
@ Nathan. You have strange ideas. You want benches and shelter for the public drinkers? Maybe you could also suggest foamies or camp cots so those indulging in activity drum referred to can be more comfortable and don't have to lean against a wall?
Up 59 Down 6
Groucho d"North on Jul 21, 2022 at 10:20 am
Welcome to Gomorrah by the river, watch where you step you may get something nasty on your shoes, or even an unplanned jab from a discarded syringe. Take all the photos you like of our happy little town, you’ll see a wide cross-section of human behaviour that most advanced and progressive communities got rid of many decades ago. It's because we here in the Yukon embrace our human rights. You know the right to be dangerously impaired and a risk to ourselves and others. Or the right to demand money from total strangers because of how we perceive the world and our part in it. No, none of this is in the tourism materials used to try and lure you here to experience our Magic and the Mystery. Here’s a hint: The Magic is that all these uncivilized things continue to happen all the while the various government leaders bleat about how much of our money they spend to correct these issues with no measurable benefit. The Mystery is how these same people get re-elected to keep their jobs.
Thanks for visiting the Yukon, we hope your visit is a safe and pleasant one, just one more thing: Please keep all our community problems to yourself when you get back home. Some of us fully and completely depend on our visitors to make a living, because our governments are unreliable to maintain a healthy economy. Drive safe and please be alert for wildlife on the roads.
Up 79 Down 4
My lemon is sweet on Jul 21, 2022 at 9:06 am
We had to make a rule for our young son not to ride his bike on Alexander after some slimeballs told him “get off our STREET.” Let’s keep giving the most to those who contribute the least and wonder why the problem keeps worsening and the entitlement keeps growing. Wake up, Whitehorse. Whether Big Kate understands it or she’s just a useful idiot, the transformation of the entire downtown into one big social services handout is part of a very deliberate campaign to destroy your city. Stop clinging to the ridiculous notion that it is well intended.
Up 18 Down 5
Mitch on Jul 20, 2022 at 9:29 pm
@DO BETTER WHITEHORSE STAR - You know what, no. I am going to defend the Whitehorse Star here. You don't seem to have a problem when an editorial speaks to what you agree with, regardless of whether that is opinion, or not. That is a matter of what content you consume and how you consume it. While you speak for yourself, the publication has editorial standards that mean they publish what is written to them, by the authour, not as personal value or viewpoint.
I can see how, as a Liberal liability, you can easily confuse illegal censorship with proper public discourse as provisioned by chartered law. Here is an opinion, you can take it to the editor.
Up 50 Down 2
drum on Jul 20, 2022 at 9:10 pm
New location of Off Sales - that means the clientale of the "Shelter" will have to stagger by the school to get to their Off Sales. Donair, What are we teaching our children!! They must already see it everyday from Whitehorse Elementary - they are only one block away from the "Shelter" I cannot believe that this City is allowing this. Shame that we are exposing our children to this everyday and the City Council is doing nothing.
Up 21 Down 4
bonanzajoe on Jul 20, 2022 at 9:02 pm
Nathan Living, do you ever read your comments after you write them?
Up 47 Down 2
Anie on Jul 20, 2022 at 5:50 pm
Sourmoe said "there is no need to be afraid of people. They are not out to harm you. ". Did you read the article? Mr. Jennings went to council because he had been attacked.
Up 46 Down 2
Juniper Jackson on Jul 20, 2022 at 4:38 pm
The building was a mistake..but it's there now and not going anywhere soon. The big plans, the apartments, the programming, never came to fruition.
This is a no win situation. The workers are not permitted to use force. A fight breaks out? Call the RCMP, some drunk takes a swing at them? It's a mean place these days. Turn them away? oh yeah? So a violent drunk wrecks the place, the RCMP can't attend, 3 staff get together and throw him/her out. Body found frozen on a park bench. See? No win. Maybe make a few cells in the building?
This is not particularly a ''First Nations" problem. It's everyone's problem. Attaching a skin color deters from the problem. Someone said, turn it into the new City Hall.. What an excellent idea, move the shelter off the main drag and move City Hall Ontarians' into it. Its plenty big enough.
Up 22 Down 11
Mitch on Jul 20, 2022 at 3:36 pm
@NATHAN LIVING - And who defines diversity and inclusivity as homogenously applied to our alleged multiculture? Cultural experts or capitalists employing political correctness as a vice on our agency? Food for thought while some of us skip meals to support nightmares such as these against our civil will.
Up 27 Down 13
Mitch on Jul 20, 2022 at 3:29 pm
@ EDDIE RUE - it smells Liberal and they who smelt it, dealt it.
Up 59 Down 5
Mitch on Jul 20, 2022 at 3:26 pm
I do stand corrected, thank you for clarifying. I can admit when I am wrong. Referred treatment is a methodone clinic next to CBC north, whereas the injection site is down on Cook. I had these two locations mixed up. That said, I guarantee I could shoot hard drugs anywhere within a block of Main Street with general impunity. Downtown is awful these days.
Up 14 Down 25
No way jose on Jul 20, 2022 at 3:25 pm
Simple minded people comments are to blame the native bands. When they should be blaming the Yukon government for handling the government run shelter handouts on 3th and Black St at the social services building.
Up 87 Down 5
Say What on Jul 20, 2022 at 2:02 pm
@ Edie Rue
The off-sales place is NOT the problem. Addicts will get their "drug of choice" anywhere and everywhere they can. Once the off-sales place moves into their new building, I suspect the crosswalk at 4th and Alexander will be used less. But if you think moving it a few more blocks away will solve the problem, you best give your head a good shake.
YES, it IS undoubtedly a KDFN problem. And yes, it IS undoubtedly a CYFN problem. By your own accord, 81% of those using the facility are indigenous. Doesn't that pretty much say it all? (Btw, kudos to KDFN for their new homes for those with addiction problems. That is a great start. Doris Bill is doing good things for her people.)
In your FN privilege, you point fingers to blame others while refusing to accept responsibility for the actions of your own kind, the 81%. Eighty-one percent!!! This IS a FN problem! Not exclusively, but primarily. Do you think FN people as a whole will EVER accept responsibility for their own actions without blaming things on someone else? I seriously have my doubts about that. Call it white privilege or whatever makes you feel righteous. I base my comment on watching what has been going on here in the last 40 years.
I agree with the poster who said, "Get your standards in order, check id's and social assistance roles including whether rent checks are going out for the individual. See if people are in need before you give them a card for the meal line. If they are receiving benefits but choose to use the shelter, charge them accordingly by reducing their benefit cheque. That's how it works elsewhere."
Up 16 Down 55
Do better Whitehorse Star… on Jul 20, 2022 at 12:45 pm
“Reporting” one persons opinions as facts without doing your homework, or without providing a differing point of view is irresponsible journalism. This is embarrassing.
Up 71 Down 6
melba on Jul 20, 2022 at 12:23 pm
The shelter needs better staff. It does not have to be a free for all. It's a party place for people who for the most part, already have housing but prefer to eat free meals served to them while they get drunk with their buddies. This sort of BS would not happen in Toronto.
Get your standards in order, check id's and social assistance roles including whether rent checks are going out for the individual. See if people are in need before you give them a card for the meal line. If they are receiving benefits but choose to use the shelter, charge them accordingly by reducing their benefit cheque. That's how it works elsewhere.
You get what you pay for. If you pay people to have housing elsewhere and give them money for food, and then also pay for them to eat and hang out for free at the shelter, that's what is going to happen. Just keep that in mind.
For the truly down on their luck and homeless, what is going on at Alexander Street is pretty despicable. Their home is being abused, and is not what it should be.
Smarten up! Get your act together, and run the place like you should.
Up 66 Down 2
Helga on Jul 20, 2022 at 11:33 am
My concern is that we are creating a permissive path that leads vulnerable folks straight to further addiction and crisis. We need some boundaries, no? Is there some way for our society to bring back harder boundaries and 'institutionalism' in a more modern and compassionate way? Do we want Black Street & 4th Ave to become East Hastings? More freedom doesn't seem to be working; we are green lighting these people to destroyed health, early death and a life with violence. I have a family member who was pregnant and drinking herself to blackout every day, and all the begging in the world by her family could not get our healthcare system to get her into care. They said she needed to sign herself in, but how was she capable to make that decision for herself and her baby when she was actively drinking? Sometimes compassion is taking the wheel for a person who is not able to drive themselves.
Up 72 Down 4
Bob Nevin on Jul 20, 2022 at 11:14 am
I don't go to the next door bakery anymore - tired of being harassed.
Surprised that they're still in business.
Up 19 Down 34
@MITCH on Jul 20, 2022 at 9:41 am
@mitch
The injection site is not "a block away" from main street. It's 14 blocks away. Furthermore, Main has always had a bit of a rougher element, the injection site has only been open for about a year. You constantly lie and exaggerate on here, it's irresponsible.
Up 45 Down 4
Morality in the great Liberal morass of inclusivity on Jul 20, 2022 at 8:12 am
In response to KC on Jul 19, 2022 at 4:38 pm:
“Most of the people milling about are harmless but some tend to get aggressive…” Nice! So public urination, sex, vandalism, drug and alcohol consumption, loss of business, frightened children, yelling-swearing-crass language, and whatever else is going on is okay?
Nice display of compassion for the hopeless centre patrons, victims of the Bigotry OLE… So the answer is to warehouse them in a revolving door system, put a positive spin on it, and practice ignorance? Great job - Libby!
This is why society imposes minimum standards, used to anyway, so that we can progress together rather than regress together. Why are you (KC) suggesting that we adopt your community standards? It actually sounds like you’re intolerant to the prospects of a best life for all…
Up 9 Down 76
Sourmoe on Jul 20, 2022 at 8:09 am
Addiction is a disease. The shelter is not a safe consumption site, but runs on harm reductions principles. Alcohol and drug consumption is not allowed inside the shelter. Saying you got to be sober to access emergency shelter and to cover your basic needs like food and a shower would harm folks. Vandalism is not cool and I don't like broken glass either, but there is no need to be afraid of people. They are not out to harm you. Why would we want to hide (from the tourists) that these type of diseases are prevalent in our community? The more people can be safely supported to overcome the disease the better. Don't judge. Don't be afraid.
Up 74 Down 7
yukoner on Jul 20, 2022 at 7:12 am
Shut it down its a sh**hole!! and was a bad idea it should have never been put there.
Put it next to the prison with a big fence around it.
Up 12 Down 39
Alex on Jul 20, 2022 at 5:12 am
You don't even need financial interest. We have plenty of folks who want addicts to suffer because they think that's the moral position and that helping is enablement. It's stupid and they're wrong and there's a lot of them on this board.
Up 77 Down 3
Whitehorse resident on Jul 20, 2022 at 12:20 am
I feel terrible for the businesses still in the area who are dealing with a tougher work environment plus the impact to their bottom line. I used to go to Duffy's, Alpine Bakery and Big Bear but gave up after so many times of being unable to park because of emergency vehicles or intoxicated crowds hanging around or fighting in the streets, and generally feeling unsafe and uncomfortable leaving my vehicle unattended.
Up 80 Down 6
AdmiralA$$ on Jul 19, 2022 at 9:11 pm
Yup simple solution. . . Stop handing out money. Close the crap hole down. Make it the new city hall you want so badly. That's what I call 3 birds, one stone. Maybe I should be on a committee, no?
Up 64 Down 5
bonanzajoe on Jul 19, 2022 at 8:56 pm
Whitehorse now has its very own Vancouver East end dumper, accept ours is in the west end.
Up 38 Down 5
bonanzajoe on Jul 19, 2022 at 8:50 pm
@The Real Just Sayin'. You may be right, but, the Salvation Army made the mistake of building it in that area. They should have put it in the McIntire area.
Up 75 Down 6
bonanzajoe on Jul 19, 2022 at 8:47 pm
"As most of the users of the shelter are of First Nations origin". Why is the centre on 4th and Alexander anyway? It should be in the McIntire area. Wouldn't the residents be more comfortable there in their own environment? Would that be racist? What is the FN doing to alleviate this problem. With the millions of dollars they get from the Feds, they should do more. No, do something. Personally, anybody that would build a house or business in that area has rocks in their head. And don't expect things to get better when the Connective/John Howard Society takes over. Expect another newspaper report like this in a year from now.
Up 13 Down 73
Seriously on Jul 19, 2022 at 8:14 pm
You created an entire article off of the viewpoints of ONE person who attended a City Council meeting? ONE person who also has the laughable nerve to take this particular moral high stance. Ridiculous reporting taken from a source that lacks all credibility.
Up 12 Down 86
Edie rue on Jul 19, 2022 at 8:12 pm
I can smell the white privilege from this story and especially the comments. Settle down Mitch.
Whitehorse has a massive substance abuse issue. Those visiting the shelter are suffering from such addiction. Last stats I saw was 49% were previous children in care, and 81% of those using the facility were indigenous. The shelter is far from the source of the issue.
And don’t forget the placement is inner city. I vote to rid the place of the off-sales across the road, as opposed to the shelter. There’s your problem.
As for Jennings comment that the KDFN should be present, is he saying that this is a KDFN issue?
One more thing, people need to stop blaming the government for this. CYFN will be taking it over. Are we going to blame them too?
Up 71 Down 5
Far Canal on Jul 19, 2022 at 6:41 pm
I pretty much agree with everyone here. All of this could have been avoided, and it has been enabled from the start. I was, foolishly it would appear, under the impression that drinking in and public intoxication were against the law here, but outside both the shelter and the off-sales it's a bloody drinking free for all. I too have had the wondrous experience of being held up at the cross-walk while one of the shelter "intelligentsia" was egged on to walk, I use that word very advisedly, as slowly as possible. Somebody will come to grief there...that too is somewhat inevitable.
Finally, and at great risk of upsetting the great "woke" amongst us, as so many, if not all, the so-called "patrons" of this fine drinking and drugging establishment are from the FN "community", why is this a town problem to deal with at all? I'm so sick and tired of reading and hearing about the great love and understanding that exists within the FN community, the special ways they have to deal with their "brothers" and "sisters", yet they are just allowed to fester out of sight and, presumably, out of mind of the First Nations to which they belong. Fat lot of care being shown there!
Oh I know, paint another rainbow crosswalk right there! That'll be a cracking start, and I'm sure all of us who live here will be able to benefit from such a great symbol of how useful the people who should be dealing with this, and many other, problems are.
Up 45 Down 6
BnR on Jul 19, 2022 at 6:35 pm
The Real Just Sayin said:
“The Salvation Army knew how to run the shelter in a way that was effective and helpful. It was a mistake for the government to take control of it.”
No, it was not a mistake. The SA did not have the means, financially or otherwise, to run that shelter.
The whole project was ill conceived poorly executed
The SA did not ask for that behemoth, it was dreamt up by the consultants and the Yukon Party ran with it.
YG was essentially paying for the O&M of it while SA ran it.
There was no consultation of the neighborhoods that would be affected, it just got built.
The only people laughing were the owners (prominent Yukon party family) of the lot it was built on as they got market value for a lot contaminated by fuel oil (it was the old Yukon Honda and before that a gas station), and taxpayers paid to clean it up.
This whole project should be investigated start to finish by the Auditor General of Canada.
Calling this a White Elephant is woefully inadequate.
Up 5 Down 65
Nathan Living on Jul 19, 2022 at 5:49 pm
I think we need a crossing guard on Fourth at the shelter to help people safely cross the street. It's a safety issue to allow people under the influence of alcohol and drugs to mingle with Whitehorse's aggressive drivers. Many Whitehorse drivers are impatient, aggressive and somewhat racist.
Let's demand that our Council consider inclusivity and make safety a priority for shelter visitors crossing the street.
I see many people openly drinking in the area but there is a lack of comfortable benches and shelter from the weather. The City should recognize this deficiency and make the area more friendly for the vulnerable people who actually use this part of our wonderful city.
Our society should accommodate people who are drawn to and use the area near the shelter, it's their city to and people who do not recognize diversity and inclusivity are philosophical bullies.
Up 71 Down 4
drum on Jul 19, 2022 at 5:46 pm
"They feel unsafe around the shelter". Surprise Surprise - it is a disgrace to this City of Whitehorse. If it has to exist for drunks and drug addicts it should be hidden away - not on a main thoroughfare for all to see. I saw two people today fornicating in open view of the Shelter (beside it) and a group handing around an open bottle of liquor. It is disgusting. What is this beautiful City coming to and accepting.
Up 62 Down 3
drum on Jul 19, 2022 at 5:35 pm
It is disgusting. OMG - what visitors think our Town is all about and I have to suffer drunks everyday straggering across the street at 4th. The New folks taking over on October will not make any changes but YG can say they have nothing to do with how it is run. My understanding is many of their clients have homes in the communities but they come to Whitehorse to party and are listed as "homeless". That messes up the stats. of who is actually homeless.
Up 96 Down 6
KC on Jul 19, 2022 at 4:38 pm
It is a rough area to work in for sure. Most of the people milling about are harmless but some tend to get aggressive. Not sure there are any easy answers to this problem. Foot patrols probably wouldn't hurt.
Up 79 Down 18
MITCH on Jul 19, 2022 at 4:32 pm
Why don't you make it the meeting place of the inclusivity council. they have so much work to do if they are going to save our city...unless of course, the inclusivity council is - ignorant and useless.
Can't wait to see the rainbow brigade clean up the opioid crisis, dying city and territory and exacerbated racialization of society by their own design. By the way, we need food and energy as well. Think you can handle it?
You can't. 100 inclusivity councils will never meet these needs. Think of how that 100k could have helped this situation - FOR EVERYONE. Now it won't. Now we wait for inclusivity.
Argue that.
If you are capable of critical thought at all. I think you are, I hold you accountable to that.
Up 53 Down 3
MITCH on Jul 19, 2022 at 4:27 pm
Matt and Josh - well said.
Up 140 Down 5
Oya on Jul 19, 2022 at 3:41 pm
Couldn't agree with you more, Mr. Jennings.
It's so unfortunate the building is on one of the main streets... visible to (and affecting) all who pass by. It absolutely looks like a party going on right outside the front door no matter what time of day. I can just imagine what the tourists think. Probably not much different than what I think.
Sometimes I have to wait a full ten minutes for some to stumble their way across the street. It's a Zombie Zone and it's a disgrace to our city, in my humble opinion.
PS I'm not suggesting we don't need such a place here, but there should be strict rules in place to curb the drinking and drug use on a downtown street. Let's not enable the very behaviours we want to fix!
Up 132 Down 16
MITCH on Jul 19, 2022 at 3:33 pm
How about downtown in general. Main Street is not the town center it once was....I wonder if having a safe injection site within a block has anything to do with it? This government is quick to hand out drugs and encourage alcoholism and make victims of people who made the choice to victimize themselves. We do not wish to be victimized as well. We didn't make their choices.
Close that dumpster down! I feel worse for the pets at Duffy's than a single person down there.
Up 155 Down 7
The Real Just Sayin' on Jul 19, 2022 at 3:32 pm
I'm not comfortable with my wife or daughter walking in the area.
The Salvation Army knew how to run the shelter in a way that was effective and helpful. It was a mistake for the government to take control of it.
Up 174 Down 8
Matthew on Jul 19, 2022 at 3:30 pm
Pretty easy, end the free drugs! Anyone who is drunk, is NOT allowed into the shelter... anyone who stays in the shelter MUST provide a minimum of 10 hrs community service a week. It's going to need some tough love for the folks there..
Up 33 Down 71
Wilf Carter on Jul 19, 2022 at 2:31 pm
WE need more health care for people with alcohol and drugs problems. We need home care shelter for people.
Up 178 Down 10
Josh on Jul 19, 2022 at 2:01 pm
I find it embarrassing and somewhat naive for people not to recognize the shelter as anything but a government funded crack shack. I will only speak for myself as a first nations man who has been a alcoholic, dealt with that and moved on to bigger and better things like LIFE. These people are not here at the shelter because they are homeless, the government has enabled this behavior from the get go and it's sad. I have had numerous run ins with the residents of the shelter and I have no fear of anyone of them just an acute awareness that the goings on there is far from legal and a eye sore for the city. Accountability is a must in any just society except for these residents taking advantage of the place and to be honest it's unfair.
Up 83 Down 10
yukong on Jul 19, 2022 at 1:27 pm
The only reason I go within two blocks of this place is to get my hair cut. I can't wait until they put in the botanical healing garden over on Black street, that'll fix things.