‘I’m tired of the bull****:’ STC chief on demand to close Fairhaven shelter

Saskatoon Tribal Council Chief Mark Arcand hit back Thursday, defending the 106-bed Fairhaven emergency wellness centre after a letter penned by Fairmont Baptist Church pastor Robert Pearce demanded the shelter be closed before this summer.

“I’m tired of the bull**** and I’m tired of the accusations, because this racism — this colonial mentality — has to stop,” Arcand said while speaking with reporters shortly after the letter was posted to social media.

Arcand said it was alarming that Pearce could sit at his computer and write a letter to Premier Scott Moe, Health Minister Everett Hindley and Social Services Minister Gene Makowsky without having “proper facts.”

“I’m here to defend the credibility of the Saskatoon Tribal Council to the citizens of Saskatoon, to the province of Saskatchewan and to all the people that we serve,” said Arcand. “I’m really disappointed and frustrated.”

In January of last year, Pearce and others raised concerns about safety after the shelter opened in the Fairhaven neighbourhood. A month later, residents attended a meeting to listen to community leaders and civic officials address their concerns.

A rally was held in September that attracted dozens of people — many from the Fairhaven and Confederation Park neighbourhoods — calling for more safety measures and funding to address concerns stemming from the shelter.

In his open letter Thursday, Pearce claimed a person tried to attack him at the church.

Citing numbers Thursday from the STC, Arcand said his organization had helped to house more than 60 families in low-income and sustainable housing, adding the shelter also had Medavie paramedics come to provide daily service, offered a pharmacy dropoff service, and had nurse practitioners stop by twice a week, along with employment services and transportation for children to and from school.

Since October, Arcand said the decision not to allow those with complex needs into the shelter has also paid off.

“Now children are not seeing people outside shove a needle in their arm, or smoking crystal meth through a pipe. Our biggest focus is we were trying to accommodate those individuals at the start, but it just went sideways because they abused their privilege,” said Arcand.

He called out Pearce and asked what he and his church were doing for those who are homeless.

“How is he helping? How is that organization helping? The answer is they’re not,” Arcand said.

“To me, it’s frustrating, and I’m not going to stand by anymore and allow this to happen to my First Nations people in this city.”

In an interview with 650 CKOM, Pearce said his church had spent more than $4,000 trying to deal with issues that stemmed from those using the shelter 200 metres away.

“I want the homeless to get help,” he said. “I’ve taken them to medical clinics. I’ve paid for prescriptions. I’ve bought them gift cards. I’ve paid for lunch. I buy water at my own expense and take it out during the summer to them.”

FYI: If you take my open letter to the Premier and ministers responsible for the shelter as an attack, instead of a direct, constructive please for help and a willingness to be a part of the solution, you might be missing the point!

— RevRobYXE (@RevRobYXE) February 15, 2024

In a social media post, Pearce said his letter was not intended to be an attack on the STC or the shelter. But Arcand said that’s exactly how he viewed it.

“In his letter — his original letter — he says we’re actually not doing anything. Wrap-around services … do you want to see them? We’ll show them … We’re going to show that we’re doing these services,” he said.

“It’s always a target on our back to say we’re not doing nothing in our city, which I think is wrong. It’s disrespectful. And we’re a First Nations organization trying to help people,” Arcand continued.

Arcand added the STC was in talks with the province to renew its yearly contract, which expires at the end of March.

Response from the province

In response to Pearce’s open letter, the provincial government sent a statement indicating that it takes the protection of people and public safety seriously, which is why the response to the homelessness issue continues to evolve by learning from its partners and community feedback.

“The province is moving to a model of smaller emergency shelters to avoid concentration of vulnerable people in one area which also provides our partners with greater ability to deliver and connect individuals to services that are tailored to their needs. It is important to note that the location and zoning for shelters is the responsibility of the municipality,” the statement indicated.