STC chief ‘not surprised’ services will be moved out of Saskatoon’s Lighthouse

Saskatoon Tribal Council Chief Mark Arcand says it’s not surprising that the provincial government has decided to move some homeless-related services out of the Lighthouse.

Speaking with Gormley last Thursday, Social Services Minister Gene Makowsky cited concerns about the model the organization uses concentrating so many services in one area of the downtown, and said services will be moved away from the Lighthouse and taken over by different organizations.

Recently, a publication ban on a court case involving the homeless shelter and supported living was lifted, revealing that former executive director Don Windels used $60,000 of the charity’s funds to purchase a home for his daughter.

Windels was removed from his position by a court order in December.

“I’m not surprised,” Arcand said. “I think (the government) made the right decision, seeing what was happening at the Lighthouse with the people getting benefits, I’ll say, as employees, and it’s wrong.”

Arcand said he applauded the decision.

“I think they’ve made the proper business decision to do what was best for the funding that they’re providing,” he said.

Arcand said the province’s choice to transfer more services to the Saskatoon Tribal Council shows his organization has proven itself over the last seven months.

“It feels pretty good to be recognized and to be trusted with that type of responsibility, and we look forward to it,” Arcand said.

At this point, however, Arcand said he’s not sure exactly what kinds of services they’ll be taking on, or whether they’ll be provided with additional funding.

Arcand did emphasize that the Wellness Centre will not take on the Managed Alcohol Program. In that program, alcoholics are regularly provided with measured amounts of alcohol to help manage their addictions.

“Our responsibility as Indigenous people is to try to get people off drugs and alcohol. And I’m not in support of that (program), so we won’t be taking those types of services, ” he explained.

Another challenge is that at this point, the wellness centre can’t take in any more people. Arcand said the 75-bed facility is full every night, and is still turning people away.

Work on securing a new wellness centre location on 20th Street just outside Saskatoon’s downtown area is ongoing, Arcand said.

“We’re working on that and being very patient,” he said. “We’ve got to do it right, because if we don’t do it right, it’s going to fail.”

Work is also continuing on the installation of an outdoor space at the current wellness centre at 145 First Ave. N. It will be located near the front of the building, much like a restaurant patio.

Several letters of complaint were sent to Saskatoon city council in recent weeks detailing concerns about people sleeping or sitting on city sidewalks near the wellness centre and rummaging though dumpsters belonging to businesses, as well as concerns about public safety and outdoor sanitation.

Arcand said they’re working on those issues.

“There’s no place to sit on First Avenue or Second Avenue. Very, very few seats,” he said. “So somebody wants to sit down on the sidewalk, it’s not a crime. But people are targeting homeless people because they have their belongings. They may have a shopping cart. It’s not fair to them.”

Once the outdoor patio has been constructed, Arcand is hoping it will mitigate some of the complaints. There’s no timeline yet for its completion.

Questions from the NDP

Meara Conway, the NDP’s social services critic, has a lot of concerns about the announcement from the provincial government, and said she’s suspicious of the motive behind the decision.

“I think that the government is using a crisis to decrease supports for people in poverty instead of working to fix what is clearly a complex problem at the Lighthouse,” said Conway.

While Makowsky told Gormley the Lighthouse was notified in advance of the decision, the organization said in a statement that it had no warning, and Conway said there should have been a plan in place.

“There doesn’t seem to be a plan in place to identify places where some of these programs can be run,” she said.

The Lighthouse offered some unique programming, according to Conway, and this could end up being a significant loss to the community.

Conway said she has concerns about why the problems that have been reported by the media were allowed to go on for so long, when there is supposed to be government oversight for organizations delivering provincially-funded services.

“The ministry has annual mandatory reviews of organizations, so how did they miss these kind of significant and persistent financial issues?” asked Conway.

Conway wondered what assurances the public has that the minister and ministry have learned anything from the situation.

She said that social issues are getting worse – including homelessness, mental health and addictions – and she’s worried about the affect the decision will have on the community in Saskatoon that needs these services.

–With files from Lisa Schick.