N.W.T. gov't to set up temporary camp as Yellowknife shelters struggle to meet need
‘We do feel that sense of urgency,’ says deputy minister
The N.W.T. government is working on a temporary on-the-land camp to try and address a shortage of shelter space in Yellowknife.
The camp would be a "bridging mechanism" said John MacDonald, the deputy minister of Executive and Indigenous Affairs, until the government can open some transitional housing space, "for the next year or so, to alleviate some of the pressure that the NGOs are experiencing within shelters."
Directors of both the Salvation Army and Yellowknife Women's Society have said their shelters are overcapacity and have been forced to turn people away for the night.
Both organizations have received funding for additional shelter beds, but they say it's still not enough to meet demand.
"It's heartbreaking to hear that people are out on the street or living on the trails with no home," said Lucy Kuptana, the territory's housing minister. "It's really heartbreaking to hear and it's also really troubling. What are we doing in terms of housing in the Northwest Territories and how we move forward?"
Details on camp, transitional housing still to come
MacDonald said it was too early to announce specifics on what the camp would look like but said it would be "along those lines" of the one set up at Aurora Village during the COVID-19 pandemic.
That camp closed in 2022 after federal funding ran out, ultimately leading to people being back out on the streets.
"We're looking at making sure that we have a safe place for people and something that they can call home temporarily — recognizing it's temporary — but it would be a bridge to something more permanent in the coming months," said MacDonald.
But when those more permanent options will be available is still up in the air. MacDonald hopes it will be in early 2025.
"It's a little bit early for us to say just yet. We don't want to get ahead of our partners. We want to make sure that we have our ducks in a row … But we do feel that sense of urgency," he said.
Kuptana said the bulk of the money for the camp and transitional housing projects would come from the territorial government, but that it still needs to be approved.
Kuptana said she "can't make any guarantee" and that "it's up to the individual" if they want to take advantage of the planned camp or transitional housing.
"What we're doing is we're working towards offering up those places, making sure spaces are available for those that are in need," she said.
Kuptana also drew on her experience volunteering with the Inuvik homeless shelter board, and said some people prefer shelters as they "didn't have to worry about the day-to-day responsibilities of being somebody within their own home and making those decisions.
"We want to offer both," she said. "And I think working these next number of years, we have to expand our public housing units, but also offer choices like transitional homes and also continuing to support our shelters."
Written by Francis Tessier-Burns with files from Hilary Bird