50-plus people sleeping outside in Yellowknife as winter approaches, advocates say

A tent encampment set up last week for homeless Yellowknife residents is already full and turning people away.

The tent encampment is located in a parking lot at the bottom of 51st Street, on a lot owned by the N.W.T. government. Encampment residents moved there on Monday last week, after being asked to leave another location on private property. 

Colton Migwi lives at the new encampment and helps run it. He said the group is capping the number of residents at 20 — and they are already at 19.

The limit on the number of residents who can stay there is part of an effort to minimize the impact of the encampment on neighbours, he said.

"We're trying to set a good example to the community of Yellowknife … so most of us can be housed, especially the ones that are disabled."

But its been hard for him to turn people away.

"I feel guilty, sad, that I have to turn people away but I'm just hoping they're safe and doing well," he said. "Hopefully they can find a new spot if possible," Migwi said.

He estimated that there were over 50 people sleeping outside in tents or on mattresses around Yellowknife right now.

Tony Brushett, executive director of the Yellowknife Salvation Army, gave a similar number.

Speaking to N.W.T. MLAs during a committee meeting on housing as a human right on Friday, he estimated there are between 50 and 100 people sleeping outside in Yellowknife right now — and no indoor space for them.

He said the Salvation Army and other shelter operators in Yellowknife are working with the N.W.T. government on finding space for people that are sleeping outside, but shelters are already full.

Shelters at capacity

Brushett told the committee that the Salvation Army is currently at capacity, and turning people away every night.

Last winter the Salvation Army was regularly at twice its capacity, Brushett said, with people sleeping on mats in hallways. 

But the unsafe, overcrowded conditions and inadequate staffing led to an increase in violence, Brushett said, and the shelter started limiting occupancy to 100 per cent capacity over a month ago to address those concerns.

One reason for the decision was an internal report the Salvation Army commissioned, Brushett explained to committee members.

"It was so damning to Salvation Army and to the [N.W.T government]," he said, adding that the investigator who wrote the report found that staff at the Salvation Army shelter had PTSD, and were in danger of physical violence on a nightly basis.

Since they have started limiting occupancy, he told legislators, violence has dropped about 70 per cent, and staff are feeling better. 

More permanent housing options needed

Ultimately, Brushett told MLAs that he wants to see the territorial government put time and money into addressing the housing shortage — by funding 24-hour shelters with wraparound support and affordable housing.

"This is not the way to do this every year," he said. 

"You can't go back to the NGOs and say can you find 50 beds for me for eight months, and in May we're going to kick you back out in the tents again until September.

"Homeless shelters are not housing, and they are certainly not the answer to housing."

As for Migwi, he believes the best option for encampment residents this winter, given the lack of shelter beds, may be canvas tents that can fit small stoves for warming.

"I worry about the winter," he said.

CBC asked the N.W.T. government for an interview last week. They declined, and sent a written statement.

"The [N.W.T. government] recognizes that the weather will soon change, and is presently working on longer-term solutions to homelessness through increases to the availability of supported housing options, and the reduction of pressure on emergency shelter services in the city," a statement from Department of Finance spokesperson Todd Sasaki said. 

They also said the government is working closely with the city, local NGOs and people in the encampment, "to address basic needs like food, sanitation and security,  and to reduce the impact of the encampment on other residents."