Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This past weekend marked the end of an era of the territorial Dene Ko Day Shelter located in Yellowknife. Yes, Mr. Speaker, I said territorial day shelter because that is exactly what this shelter provided: a home, a refuge and a place to feel human for over 300 homeless people from all over the territory.
Sadly, this era has come to a close with little information from the Department of Health and Social Services nor its Minister as to its return. Before I ask my questions to the Minister, I would like to take this moment to recognize the long-standing operators of the John Howard Society for their tireless efforts and, of course, to the temporary contractors of the NWT Disabilities Council that hung in there.
The debate of lack of funding for the shelter has been, for many years, a baseline of discussion in this House. Now that it is officially closed and our downtown streets are once again facing the rigors of homelessness and poverty, we have heard absolutely nothing from the Minister on this subject.
Can the Minister indicate to the House what he is doing about this? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Abernethy.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In the winter session I think I clearly articulated that we are intending to open the shelter in September. But before we do that, we have a significant amount of work to do.
The shelter just about closed down earlier this year, and we worked really hard with Yellowknife Health and Social Services to find a provider to keep it open until May. That provider has provided us with some additional data that’s going to help us figure out the best course of action for the day shelter.
A couple of things: the building that the day shelter was located in has shut down and it will be torn down, so we have to find a new location and we have to look at the model, but these are all things that I said in the winter session. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, the Minister is right; it was discussed in the winter session, but we don’t know where to find a lot of this communication. It was just mentioned in Hansard.
Communication is key to transparency and accountability. As of this date we’ve heard or seen little in the way of communication since the winter session.
Can the Minister shed some light on what form of communication we can expect to see as we anticipate the reopening of the shelter? Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, I’ve been talking to the chair of the Yellowknife Health and Social Services Authority and the CEO, and I’ve asked them to find a solution to the upcoming September. They are working very closely with a number of NGOs in town, trying to find alternate providers, alternative locations.
When we are closer to having a decision with respect to where that location might be and who the provider will be, we’ll be advertising that information throughout Yellowknife and the Northwest Territories,. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I appreciate the Minister’s response. Homelessness, poverty, mental health and addictions, all these programs require significant investment. As my grandfather always said, talk is cheap, whiskey costs money.
Can the Minister indicate to the House what level of funding his department is willing to invest to properly find a suitable operator and facilitator for the shelter once it is open? Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, the Department of Health and Social Services and Yellowknife Health and Social Services aren’t in this alone. We do have a relationship with the City of Yellowknife who has, to date, contributed $50,000 per fiscal year. On top of that $50,000, the health and social services system here in the Northwest Territories contributes an additional $250,000, $175,000 from the mental health and addictions budget and $75,000 from the anti-poverty budget. So, combined with the city, there’s a $300,000 budget to operate this facility. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Dolynny.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We all know very well that $300,000 isn’t going to be sufficient to run this shelter, as has been proven in the past.
We have learned from our past that merely providing four walls is not in the best interest for those who use this shelter. Many MLAs have demanded that we offer rehabilitation options and hope for our homeless.
What is the Minister doing specifically to address required enhanced services and proper funding for such services as we await the opening of this new territorial day shelter?
Mr. Speaker, we’ll have a better idea what the costs will be and how far $300,000 will go once we’ve actually completed the review. As I’ve said, the provider who has helped us out for the last two months – the NWT Disabilities Council – has pulled together some really good information that’s going to help us inform the way we move forward and as far as what the design will look like and what types of services, if any, are provided in that facility. At that time I’d be happy to come to committee and the public with that information so everybody knows what we’re talking about. But until that time, we don’t know if we’re going to need additional money. Plus, we’re always looking to partner with other organizations. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Member for Hay River North, Mr. Bouchard.
