Yellowknife rejects Street Outreach request for more funding, expanded services

A proposal to increase Yellowknife's Street Outreach funding for services including a paramedic, a retrofitted van, and more harm reduction and first aid tools was officially rejected by city council on Tuesday.

The motion, put forward by Coun. Tom McLennan, was to designate Street Outreach as an advanced care paramedic model for the next three years. It came as council was engaged in the 2024 budget deliberations. 

Street Outreach is a program that was started in 2017 as a pilot. It is operated by the Yellowknife Women's Society, providing 12 hours of daily basic outreach for the street-involved population.

The motion for more funding came after council discussed, and unanimously approved, using $100,000 in federal funds for a review of the program. 

In October, the Yellowknife Women's Society made the application for approximately $1.1 million annually, compared to its current funding of $360,000.

The motion brought forward by McLennan was to provide around $730,000 in 2024, $1.1 million in 2025 and $915,000 in 2026. 

McLennan said with cuts already made to the budget and other maneuvering, city council could find the funds without a tax increase this year.

He also argued that the cost of responding to calls is far higher for the fire department compared to what it costs for Street Outreach to respond, though he acknowledged the differences in levels of training and services between the two organizations.

But numerous members of council said they could not support the motion because funding for these programs is the responsibility of the territorial government, not the city. 

"I understand and I respect the passion from Councillor McLennan on this subject matter and I do hope in the future that, with combined resources, we will be able to tackle this," said Coun. Garett Cochrane, "but I do disagree with the premise that fully funding this will then convince the (territorial government) to participate in this program."

Mayor Rebecca Alty said the upcoming review can determine what the future of Street Outreach will be and referenced models that are used in different cities such as Whitehorse.

"They have two outreach vans that are operating, both funded by the territorial government … Both provide two different services," she said, adding one van is dedicated to medical care and the other is used to deliver things like hats, coats, food and warm drinks.

Craig MacLean, Yellowknife's director of public safety, also highlighted some bureaucratic challenges to the proposal. 

He explained there is a bylaw that only allows the fire division to operate ambulances in the city, so in order to accommodate this motion, there would need to be changes. 

The motion was defeated in a 7-2 vote, with McLennan and Coun. Ryan Fequet voting in favour. 

This comes as the Street Outreach program has been dealing with repeated mechanical issues with its vehicles.

Community members organized a GoFundMe and a charity concert at the Top Knight in April to raise funds for the program.