The Yukon government’s safety plan for the Whitehorse Emergency Shelter has garnered mixed reactions from nearby businesses.

“It makes a lot of promises, has a lot of ideas in it, but unfortunately, nothing has materialized really that makes any difference,” Hans Oettli, owner of Duffy’s Pets, told the Star Thursday.

The Community Safety Plan was released June 30 after several months of interviews, surveys and consultation. 

The plan has four priorities: ensuring safety of shelter guests; enhancing the shelter’s governance; creating a safe and harmonious neighbourhood for clients, residents and neighbouring businesses; and enabling better access to services.

The third priority was set in response to widespread reports of violent and disruptive behaviour among those who gather outside the Alexander Street shelter.

Last summer, Oettli told the Star his customers were tormented while entering and exiting his store and were increasingly afraid to visit. He estimated a 35 per cent loss of revenue to the situation.

Speaking Thursday, Oettli said the situation hasn’t improved.

“For a year now, I’ve been trying to settle this in a nice way, but you just get ignored,” Oettli said.

Oettli said he is considering suing the Yukon government for compensation for lost revenue due to the mishandling of the shelter.

“What am I supposed to do?” Oettli asked.

“They don’t want to resort to compensation that we’re going to be asking for if this continues. We’re going to end up in a legal battle, with more businesses from this area and private people, and they’re going to have a lawsuit on their plates,” he said, referring to the government.

Robyn Gillespie, the operations manager of Big Bear Wine & Liquor, told the Star Thursday she hopes shelter guests will receive better support as a result of the safety plan.

Big Bear Wine & Liquor is uniquely affected by its proximity to the shelter, as staff serve shelter guests every day.

“I find it really humanizing to be able to see these people,” Gillespie said.

“Being able to interact with and communicate with them, they’re just people who haven’t gotten the help that they need.”

Big Bear staff receive specific training to help them work with volatile clientele.

“There’s definitely some dangerous situations, situations where staff have felt unsafe,” Gillespie said.

“A big part of our training is making sure people feel comfortable in that position, because you’re dealing with vulnerable populations.

“For the most part, when there are incidents, those people will come back when they’re sober and apologize.”

Big Bear staff have established an informal relationship with shelter employees, Gillespie said.

“It’s the Yukon, so you get to know people and have conversations,” she said.

“I think we all want the same thing for those people – for them to be healthy and well.”

Gillespie said she was not consulted on the Safety Plan nor informed of its release, but agreed with some of the key action items suggested for creating a harmonious neighbourhood.

One action item recommends exploring security services and a neighbourhood watch program.

“At Big Bear, we have a unique outlook on that, because we have cameras that face that way and all the time RCMP are coming to us for camera footage,” Gillespie said.

“It would be so much more efficient and preemptive to have someone there to prevent the incident in the first place – there are always five cop cars, or nothing.”

Oettli noted that the government has broached the idea of shelter security for several months, but action hasn’t been taken.

Gillespie also agreed with a recommendation for a point-of-contact to report shelter incidents.

“We definitely utilize the non-emergency line a lot, so if there was a specific person overseeing all of those incidents that would be helpful; a lot of the time it’s going to a dispatcher who is not really aware of the situation,” Gillespie said.

The first two action items recommend a communication strategy to build relationships in the community. It also suggests the planning of a community barbecue. 

“I think it is really good to get people communicating with each other, and not just seeing (shelter guests) as a problem population … it’s a matter of actually engaging people,” Gillespie said.

Oettli called the plan for a barbecue a “slap in the face,” and suggested that government staff are out of touch with the realities of the shelter.

“I would offer to place my motorhome across the street for anyone who would like to spend a week here, to live and look and experience what’s happening,” Oettli said.

Oettli said he was interviewed by a consultant working on the Safety Plan. Since the plan was released, he has reviewed it extensively.

“There’s not really anything in there that points out how they’re going to fix things, it’s all just recognition of the problems,” Oettli said.

The store owner would like to see the shelter divided into several smaller facilities.

“If you disperse it into smaller pods, away from one central place, it’s easier to handle than this,” Oettli said.

“What’s here is costing a tremendous amount of money and resources, RCMP here several times a day, an ambulance, that costs an unbelievable amount of money.

“...Some of these people are very aggressive. I try not to fight anymore, but eventually, something might happen.”