The Emergency Wellness Centre says it is cracking down on drug use and those breaking the rules starting next month.
“Effective October 1, 2023, the Emergency Wellness Centre will actually be pushing people with complex needs away that are not following the rules in regards to using drugs on our property.”
Saskatoon Tribal Chief Mark Arcand made that announcement that on Tuesday, saying that there are too many individuals using drugs and breaking rules at the Emergency Wellness Centre.
“They are not stopping the drug use. We see that everyday when they walk out of the facility, they are putting a needle in their arm or they are using crystal meth and that is the issue. They are not there to get healthy.
“We know it’s a tough line and some people may agree or disagree but we are making that decision for what is best for people’s quality of life.”
Arcand said that the decision comes in an effort to focus on wellness.
“We have kids there and families there and it is really causing a disruption for the wellness part.”
He said rocks have been thrown through windows, property has been smashed, and hammers have been taken to vehicles in the parking lot.
Individuals are also making threats, getting violent, and using needles as weapons, according to Arcand.
Earlier in September, Fairhaven residents held a rally against the shelter, saying it has destroyed their neighbourhood and made it unsafe for families.
“I saw a woman injecting herself on Clancy Drive the other day when I was driving up to Circle Drive,” said resident Darla Brown. “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.
The Emergency Wellness Centre classifies those living with homelessness on three levels.
Level one individuals are considered elderly, living on a pension, or only living in homelessness due to their income. They are not living with addictions. Arcand explained level two individuals to be using drugs but not breaking into homes, assaulting people or committing other crimes.
“We believe we can help the level two people because they want help.”
Approximately 30 per cent of the wellness centre’s population remains — level three individuals.
Arcand said these are the individuals that will no longer be welcome at the facility.
“They don’t want to change their lives. They are too sick to change their lives and they need more support to help themselves to get that quality of life.”
A 30 day ban from the facility will be in place for anyone that breaks the rules.
Arcand said individuals breaking rules can choose to walk away from the shelter at their own discretion or the police will be called.
“They have been forewarned. Once the police come… it’s comply or go to jail.”
Police will also be called on any individual with complex needs that lingers outside the property after being evicted.
Supt. Darren Pringle with Saskatoon police said he understands where the shelter is coming from but said the decision will increase work for officers.
“The toxicity of the drugs that are on the market is creating such wide and wild behaviour swings that it is hard to predict what the person is going to do and I understand it.”
He said it’s not his job to support the wellness centre’s decision– only to react with a plan to keep the community safe from any impacts.
He said he doesn’t know where the individuals will be taken.
“That’s what we are challenged with everyday shift and every night shift, is where to take these folks.”
Pringle said the individuals can be placed in detention or hospitals, but added they don’t want to contribute to overwhelmed medical centres.
The force has had to shuffle their deployment teams over the last year to bring a more increased police presence to the Fairhaven area as a result of crimes surrounding the wellness centre.
“The challenge with the wellness centre, and not just the centre itself, but with the community of individuals who follow along and are outside the wellness centre, that has certainly increased,” Pringle said.
He said he didn’t know if the individuals with complex needs would try to linger around the outside of the wellness centre property or if they will displace themselves to somewhere else in the city.
Ward 3 councillor David Kirton said that he is concerned that the decision was made without a solid plan in place.
“We don’t have a place for them. The province hasn’t funded a facility for them.”
Kirton said he hopes the change will bring a calmer atmosphere to Fairhaven, but it is still a community wide problem.
“Fairhaven might benefit from this, but as long as we don’t have a plan, the city isn’t going to benefit from this because there aren’t facilities for these people.”
Arcand said the province will not fund more than 106 emergency beds. Last year, the wellness centre was over capacity by 60 to 70 individuals each night.
He said individuals with complex needs require an entirely different facility, but that the Saskatoon Tribal Council isn’t looking for a new space due to lack of funding.
“If the city or the province is looking for a facility, we support that, we will help them in any way we can. I don’t have any answers as to where a location could be or what it looks like.”
Arcand also noted that a new facility shouldn’t be placed on the west side of the city, saying that it needs to be ‘fair for the city’.
“The west side has done its job for many, many years at the 20th Street location and Fairhaven.”
The Saskatoon Tribal Council committed to helping run a new facility if the province or other levels of government provided it.
“If we have help supporting the level three’s, we can lower our cost at our facility because we are actually dealing with healthy people — less peacekeepers for more programs and services… so we can really see a change in service.”
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