Saskatoon’s Fairhaven residents held a rally Wednesday night to protest the location of the Emergency Wellness Centre, claiming it has destroyed the neighbourbood and made it unsafe.
Fairhaven resident Darla Brown said 106 homeless people, many of whom have addictions issues and complex needs, have been placed in the community and some are creating havoc.
“I saw a woman injecting herself on Clancy Drive the other day when I was driving up to Circle Drive. Nobody’s children needs to see that, nobody in this city needs to see that.”
She said the neighbourhood is a mess, not safe, and the city shouldn’t be normalizing the use of drugs in Saskatoon.
Brown spoke about her experiences with someone sleeping behind her fence, about how her brother who also lives in the area had some stuff stolen from him, and how people are worried about sending their kids to school in the neighbourhood.
She claimed the city of Saskatoon has neglected the Fairhaven community since day one of the Wellness Centre being put in place.
“Without the pathway that the city of Saskatoon has created by changing the permitted use to a special care home they wouldn’t have been able to put this into our neighbourhood without consulting and doing the proper checks and balances.”
Brown claimed that proper reporting isn’t being done and that the province should know how many active addictions are at the facility.
“Our governments are not doing their jobs to look after these people that need help and providing facilities. On the other hand, there are these people who really need some help and there’s no resources for them to be able to get long-term help for their addictions and their mental health.”
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She said not everyone at the centre wants help but said there needs to be something available for those who do.
“We do have a problem with complex needs in the city of Saskatoon that we are not addressing because of lack of facilities and lack of investment to help deal with those individuals,” said Saskatoon Tribal Chief Mark Arcand. “It is those people that choose not to seek help for their addictions that are causing the issues. At the end of the day, we have to look at another facility to support these individuals.
Ward 3 councillor David Kirton, in charge of Fairhaven and Confederations neighbourhoods said he isn’t surprised that the concerns eventually resulted in a rally.
“The neighbourhoods have changed,” Kirton said. “I understand why the protest was there yesterday.”
He said that there is nothing he can do right now besides press the government for changes to the social assistance system.
He noted Saskatoon Mayor Charlie Clark is doing the same.
“The first thing we need is funding for facilities for those who have complex needs,” Kirton said.
He said the design of the Emergency Wellness Centre isn’t working and won’t work anywhere in the city.
“There are four pods in that shelter, two for men, one for women and one for families. It would be great for this to become a family centre since it’s in a neighbourhood.”
Kirton said smaller facilities spread throughout the city that are designed for people with complex needs would be more efficient.
“I wish I could do more and it is very frustrating to have to watch and see what is going on and not be able to do more than what we are doing. At the same time, I praise police, fire, that are cleaning up around there because of the changes that have been made.”
Kirton said more policing isn’t the answer.
“We can’t police our way out of this. We still need the province to make its changes.”
When Global News reached out the Government of Saskatchewan, officials said it is helping but wouldn’t give any details related to specific programming or new, upcoming support specific to Saskatoon.
“The Government of Saskatchewan is actively working with all levels of government, Indigenous and community partners in the delivery of services to those who are homeless,” read an email from the Ministry of Social Services. “This includes human service providers such as health, housing and police services to develop approaches that address community concerns while supporting individuals with complex needs.”
The email said that the government appreciates hearing Fairhaven’s concerns and many communities across Canada are dealing with the same issues.
“We are collaborating with partners to coordinate access and making connections to better serve those in need of supports for mental health, addictions and other services. We will continue to work with our existing partners and continue to be open to new partnerships.”