Confidence in Lighthouse management lost, premier says

It’s going to take some time to figure out how to transition services for the homeless away from the Lighthouse shelter in downtown Saskatoon, but Premier Scott Moe said it has to happen because of a loss of confidence in the shelter’s management.

Social Services Minister Gene Makowsky announced last Thursday that funding and services would be pulled from the facility and provided by other organizations.

“I’ve become concerned about the model that they have at the Lighthouse, with having so many services concentrated in one area in downtown Saskatoon,” Makowsky said during an interview with CKOM and CJME’s John Gormley.

During a news conference Tuesday in Saskatoon, Moe said the province has lost confidence in the facility’s management.

“Given recent events and conversations … that have been ongoing for a period of time between the Ministry of Social Services, Ministry of Health and the Lighthouse management, the Government of Saskatchewan has lost faith in the management at the Lighthouse,” Moe said.

A statement sent to media by Lighthouse President Jerome Hepfner said they were not warned about the decision before Makowsky made the announcement public during his interview with Gormley.

“We had no warning and are expecting to discuss with the ministries of social service and health, the services that will remain available at the Lighthouse and the path forward,” Hepfner wrote.

“We are meeting with our staff and will be in touch with our community partners to address the situation.”

Moe said the search for alternate service providers is on going, and it will take a few months to iron out all of the details.

The premier said his government has had concerns about the Lighthouse for some time, and has worked closely with the City of Saskatoon. Homeless and shelter-related services will continue to be provided in Saskatoon, Moe said, but at another location.

“It isn’t going to happen overnight,” Moe said. “I believe Tribal Chief (Mark) Arcand had made the same comment, that this is going to take some time if he was going to ramp up some of these services.”

On Tuesday Arcand, who leads Saskatoon Tribal Council, said he has not yet discussed which services could be moved to the shelter his organization manages, or whether any additional funding would be provided.

He added their Emergency Wellness Centre is full every night, and there’s simply no more room for more people or services.

“We actually turn away 15 to 20 people every night looking for beds. We’re over capacity since we opened,” Arcand said.

“I don’t think they’re just going to shut down doors and then have everybody in our streets. That’s not going to beneficial for everybody.”

Arcand said STC is investigating several options for a variety of projects to potentially take over some of the services from the Lighthouse, and to move the emergency wellness shelter out of the downtown area. Nothing has been finalized yet, however.

“I think we’ll have to get there sooner than later,” Arcand added.