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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Representatives of the Salvation Army and the Tree of Peace Friendship Centre say given the opportunity they wouldn't take on the responsibility of running the Yellowknife Day Shelter at this time.

Byrne Richards, Tree of Peace executive director, said the organization has no interest in doing what the day shelter does.

"That's not where we are," he said. "At this juncture in time, there are no plans for the Tree of Peace to be involved with anything to do with the day shelter other than to follow through with the referrals which we receive."

Throughout the current sitting of the legislative assembly, Yellowknife Centre MLA Robert Hawkins has expressed concern over the management of the day shelter, which is run by the John Howard Society. He has been pushing for the government to put out a request for proposal to allow other organizations a chance at running the shelter.

"That's a reasonable expectation when it's the public's money," Hawkins said. "This is not about eliminating the day shelter. This is not about eliminating the contractor. It's about the management of the contract, which needs to be safe, healthy and respectable for all that are there in that environment."

Hawkins said the Salvation Army's program director Brian Birch expressed interest in having the organization run the day shelter. Birch could not be reached for comment, however, Capt. Ruth Gillingham of the Salvation Army spoke on the organization's behalf.

The Salvation Army, Gillingham said, does not want to take on running the shelter at this time and supports the John Howard Society's efforts.

"From my understanding of the terms of reference that the government has contracted with them and the funding that they provide, (the John Howard Society is) providing the services for which they have been contracted," Gillingham said. "I think the things that are at issue are the things that are beyond the contract, so the government needs to renegotiate."

Richards echoed Gillingham's statement.

"What Mr. Hawkins wants and what the John Howard Society was hired to do are two different things," Richards said.

Gillingham added that people need to realize there are inherent challenges with any day shelter, no matter what city it's located in. For instance, in London, Ont., where Gillingham previously served, the Salvation Army's day shelter constantly faced problems with people being unruly and hanging out around the building.

To address the problem, police started patrolling the area more often, she said. The additional patrols helped, she added.

In Yellowknife, Gillingham said the government needs to work with its service provider.

She said she was disappointed with how the conversation about the day shelter management has gone.

"I think it's unfair to try to divide the NGOs. That's not helpful for us because let's say everybody decided we weren't doing a good job with the shelter. I would hate for them to be saying, 'Well, we will just give it to the John Howard Society. Let's see if the John Howard or Tree of Peace will be interested in doing it'," she said. "My concern is if you don't have that type of loyalty in working this out, how do all of us stand?"

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